Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country Book1
by Kopykat Kakashi
Summary: An attempt at portraying Kakashi in a semiserious relationship. Starts off with Kak's 2nd genin team. He and the girl have dark secrets that intertwine. Will she kill him or worse. KakxOC nongratuitous lemonlime
1. KKT 1,1 First Trip to the Academy

_**Kakashi and the Kunoichi from Thunder Country**_

**by Kopykat Kakashi**

Author's Notes: Please leave a review especially if you think something could be better. I'm always modifying my stories and one of the reasons this is being rewritten is because of a reviewer's criticism.

**The Chronicles of Kakashi and the Kunoichi from Thunder Country** follows Kakashi's relationship with a kunoichi who gives new meaning to the term "Makeout Violence" (umm, not actual that type of story). The (7 planned) stories are episodic and most can be read as standalones, but are linked to form a full novel in the end. action/adventure, humor, romance, angst - Plot twists, too! KakxOC, Most people don't like OC stories but I swear this one is different (NOT a Mary-sue) and contains some good surprises by the end.

Summary: The first part of the story follows Kakashi's new genin team through the same trials as Naruto's team with some different strategies. Why does the girl leak green chakra and what other secrets are she hiding? She and Kakashi have dark secrets that intertwine. Will she end up killing Kakashi or worse?

Story covers 18 years, the first part mainly takes place about 3 years after the current Naruto timeline and ignores events after episode 65. I started writing this right after the chuunin exam finals so it's not per canon and Sandaime is still around for a while longer. Starts a bit slow but picks up after the time jump. This version is a complete rewrite of a number of stories I started a year ago.

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**THE CHRONICLES OF KAKASHI AND THE KUNOICHI FROM THUNDER COUNTRY **

**KAKASHI AND THE KUNOICHI FROM THUNDER COUNTRY (Book 1)**

**PART I The Shinobi Path**

**Prologue: The Night Visitor**

It was the middle of the night and darkness prevailed in Konoha despite the half moon luminescent in the clear sky. All was deathly quiet except for the slight rustling of the air caused by a black shadow leaping from roof to roof. It appeared to be carrying a small bundle no larger than a loaf of bread. The shadow abruptly stopped at a house near the outskirts of the village. It was a modest, respectable house, somewhat larger than the others around it. The dark form then slipped in silently through a window half opened to let in a summer breeze.

-...-...-...-...-

_**1.1 First Trip to the Academy**_

"Teaching is much harder than I thought" Iruka muttered ruefully after suffering through another day of spitballs. Classes had just started a week ago and it was his first time teaching. '_Some of the kids in the class are just…impossible!'_ Iruka thought as he rammed his books into his bag. '_Especially that blond spikey hair brat Naruto,'_ he added to himself as he finished packing his stuff, ready to got home for the day. Iruka yawned and stretched his limbs. '_It will be better tomorrow! I'll put my foot down and keep cool and they'll listen to me,' _he thought positively and smiled. '_Annoying, but cute brats.'_

As Iruka exited the school, he spied a young girl wandering around the shinobi academy grounds apparently in search of something. Being the super nice guy that he was, he felt immediately compelled to walk over and introduce himself, "Hello there little miss, I'm Iruka sensei, I teach here at the academy. You look a bit young to be a student here, are you lost?"

The girl stared up at him with dark voluminous eyes. "No, I'm just looking for the library. You do have one here, don't you?" she asked matter-of-factly.

Iruka wondered if at her age she could even read. She looked to him to be about 4 years old. _'But even children should be treated seriously,'_ he thought. "Well, the library here is really just for the students. Have you been to the village library?" Iruka suggested.

"They don't have what I'm looking for," she punctuated that with a slight frown.

"Oh, what is it that you're looking for?" Iruka asked curiously.

"I want to know what I will be learning as a shinobi," she gave him a smile.

"Well," Iruka mused, "I guess it's all right for you to take a look. Are you here by yourself?"

"Yes," she admitted hesitantly.

"Where are your parents?" he asked as they walked over to the library.

"They're at the office. My father is Dr. Otori. My name is Rikako," she replied smiling, anticipating his next questions.

Iruka was surprised since the village doctor lived in the outskirts of the village proper, at least 2 miles from the school. "How did you get here?"

"I walked on the main road. How else? My parents w…couldn't bring me."

_'I see, she's here probably without their permission. I'll have to contact them.'_ But Iruka smiled and walked with the little girl, pointing out the various academy buildings and training grounds on the way to the library. The pint-size-would-be kunoichi listened attentively to his tour information, then stopped to take out a small notebook from her backpack and began to take notes.

_'Strange child,' _Iruka thought, '_she looks about four, but acts older.' _She spoke with the maturity of an adult and always with a smile. He had never seen eyes and hair that dark before. Black was not a color, it was the absence of color. Eyes and hair were always dark something, like dark gray or dark brown. At first look, all one could say was her eyes and hair were dark and no color came to mind but black. But in the sunlight he observed just a hint of green reflected in those oversized dark eyes. And a hint of violet in her hair, which was braided erratically in the back. Its loose wisps were incongruous with her precise speech. She was pretty enough, but pale and thin, thinner than what a child of a well established doctor should be. Dr. Otori Hiroshi, Iruka recalled, was the Head Shinobi Medic at the Academy for a few years. Before that he was an Anbu medic. He had married a civilian girl from the village and retired about 6 years ago.

"Well, here's the library," Iruka announced as they reached the small building next to the Hokage's administrative building. Iruka smiled at the pretty blond librarian working at the checkout and returns desk. He blushed as she smiled back. "Umm, well…the books and scrolls for the younger academy students are in this section," he managed to say as he directedthe girlto the back. If you need any help, just ask the nice lady here." He blushed again. "Stay here until I get back, all right?"

Rikako smiled, nodded and bowed formally, "Thank you Iruka sensei for allotting a portion of your invaluable time to assist me."

"Sure…er…no problem," Iruka stammered as he made eye contact with the pretty librarian again. "Hikaru-san, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything for you Iruka-sensei," the blond winked at him and smiled.

"Umm…can you keep an eye on that girl? I need to contact her parents."

"No problem. She seems very well behaved. We rarely see any of the academy students here much less a child her age."

"Yes, she is…interesting," Iruka mused thoughtfully.

…-…-…-…-….-

**Blanket Disclaimer** applicable to all chapters: I do not own "Naruto" which is a creation by Masashi Kishimoto. I do not make any money off any of the stories I write using Naruto characters. I do own my original characters Otori Rikako, her parents, and teammates.


	2. KKT 1,2 The Doctors House

_**1.2 The Doctor's House**_

_'A child that age should not be wandering around so far from home_.' Iruka shook his head disapprovingly as he concentrated chakra to his feet. He easily ran the two plus miles to the village doctor's office while still thinking about the strange dark girl. Within minutes he stood by its entrance, which was actually to the annex of the doctor's private home. Iruka rang the doorbell and waited patiently, observing that the old house could use some exterior refurbishing. The roof was missing a few shingles and the stairs were cracked, but the windows looked new.

His observations were interrupted by a weary looking woman answering the door. She must have been quite attractive once, but now she was obviously past her prime as the gray hairs at her temple betrayed her age. "May I help you?" She looked at Iruka quizzically. '_The academy has their own hospital and teams of medics. Why would a shinobi show up here?'_

Iruka bowed in greeting. "I'm Umino Iruka, teacher at the shinobi academy. I found a young girl wandering the academy grounds…"

"Rikako! She left without permission again? She was told so many times not to go up there. Damn it! That girl is more trouble than she's worth!" Her haggard face became animated with color as she flushed angrily.

"Well," Iruka started to say, surprised at her over reaction, "she hasn't been any trouble at all. She said she just wanted to visit the library. I brought her there and she's probably still there right now…"

"We don't have time get her right now. The waiting room is full…that's what she's been waiting for! That little sneak…"

"I just came by to let you know that everything is fine and I'll bring her back home soon," Iruka added to appease her.

"Yes, if you can, that would be greatly appreciated." The woman sighed and ran her fingers through her mostly brown hair. "I'm sorry, Iruka sensei, is it? I'm Rika, her mother. It's just been a tough morning." '_More like a tough life_,' she added to herself. "Please bring her back as soon as you can." She managed a small smile before returning to the patients.

Iruka bowed again as he concentrated chakra to his feet.

…-…-…-…-

When Iruka finally stepped foot back on academy grounds he realized he still had his bag with him and decided to return home first to drop it off. '_That kid will probably want some more time at the library, it's only been about 10 minutes.' _

Iruka sighed as he unpacked his lecture material. His apartment was empty and silent. No other living soul, human or animal. He liked the noisiness of the young shinobi wannabees and looked forward to class every morning. '_Does that girl really want to be a kunoichi? Seems her mom wasn't happy about her visit here. Well, that was kind of weird_,' Iruka thought, _'Seems her mom's really stressed out. I always thought being in a doctor's family would be…nice. No worries about money, saving lives instead of taking them. She's lucky, she has two parents. So many children have only one or none at all.'_ Iruka sighed again thinking back to his past and the loss of his own parents. '_Has it already been eight years?_ _That nine tails kid Naruto is in one of my classes.'_ He frowned at that thought. '_Well, it's not like I'll be seeing him that often or socializing with him. He's just another student. I mustn't blame him for my parents' death. But still, looking at him disturbs me…'_

…-…-…-…-…-

_'I promised her mom I'd bring her home soon, and she's probably tired of books by now, kids have short attention spans,' _Iruka thought while on his way back to the library fifteen minutes later.

"H…hello, Hikaru-san," Iruka said turning red again as the pretty blond raised her cerulean blue eyes to meet his greeting. "S…so how is Rikako-chan doing?"

"Well, she's already gone through most of the junior books. She's on the second year books now."

Iruka mused, '_Oh, she must be looking through the pictures_.' But to his surprise, he found her at a large desk with a stack of books, reading and taking notes from "Basic Techniques Level 2."

"Hi there, how's it going, are you finding what you need?" She nodded and thanked him. "When you're ready I can take you back home, maybe another 10 minutes?"

She looked up and thoughtfully negotiated, "Twenty minutes please, I should be done by then."

Iruka nodded and walked back to attempt small talk with the attractive librarian, trying hard not to blush too much. '_One of these days, I swear I'll get up the nerve to ask her out!'_

…-…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's notes: The first and second year books are for 8-9 year olds, not high school or college texts._


	3. KKT 1,3 The Future Kunoichi

_**1.3 The Future Kunoichi**_

As Iruka walked the miniature future kunoichi home, he asked, "So you want to enroll in the academy. Most children start around 8 years old, but some with great potential start younger. How old are you?"

"I turned 5 a few months ago," she looked up to meet his eyes and smiled at him.

"You seem to know a lot already," he couldn't help but smile back.

"My father has taught me a few things. He also has many books. I watch him with his patients. Sometimes I even get to help him."

"Oh, how do you help?"

"Mostly by staying out of the way," she laughed at her own joke, "but I help steru-ster-ilize e-quip-ment and run errands."

_'Her stumble over the longer words makes her seem more like a regular kid_,' Iruka thought. From the long walk home, Iruka gleaned that her parents had already taught her to read and the basic principles of chakra especially as it pertained to medicine. Her mother, Rika, acted as receptionist, nurse and mid-wife. But mostly she asked him questions: _How do you sign up for classes? What weapons do you use? What techniques can you do? Can you show me any?_

"Well, I can show you the transformation technique," Iruka replied as enthusiastically as the little girl. He started to feel better, shaking off the loneliness he felt earlier. '_Kids just love this!' _Iruka thought as he transformed into the librarian.

Rikako's large dark eyes widened into saucers. She shrieked in delight and asked him to repeat it again and again in different forms, laughing in delight after each time. Iruka happily obliged and laughed along with her. Before they knew it, they were already standing on her parents' doorstep.

Her mother answered the door again, "Thank you so much for bringing her back. I'm sorry that we were too busy to retrieve her." She gave Rikako a stern look. But her daughter seemed completely unfazed by the possibility of any punishment and entered inside without a word of apology.

Iruka nodded and replied, "Well, my pleasure, she's going to be a fine kunoichi one day."

Her mother's entire face furrowed and frowned. "No, she's not. Not ever. I'm sorry, but it's just not an appropriate profession for a girl."

"But her father was a shinobi, he should know that..."

"My husband feels as strongly as I do that she will not be a shinobi."

Iruka nodded, "Well, of course I can understand why...but it's a shame..."

Her mother's voice turned ice cold. "Well, thank you again Iruka sensei. I would invite you in for tea, but we still have patients at the moment."

"Of course, I understand..."

"Well, goodbye then."

"Good- b..." Iruka started to say, but Rika closed the door before he finished. Iruka sighed, _'There's going to be trouble in that house tonight.'_

…-…-…-…-…-…-

A few days later, Iruka filled out his weekly report and included his encounter with the strange dark eyed-dark haired child: "A five year old girl (Otori Rikako, daughter of the village doctor) was found wandering the academy grounds on Monday after classes. She asked to visit the library. I took her to the library, informed her parents and returned her home."

To Iruka's surprise, the day after filing his report, he received a summons from the Hokage_. 'Geez, I hope I'm not in trouble for yelling at the students_,' Iruka thought nervously on the way to the Hokage's office.

He found a masked shinobi about his age, with gray hair that stuck up at all angles, and with his forehead protector slanted to cover his left eye, standing by the Hokage's side.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka said as he bowed respectfully.

"Your report on Dr. Otori's daughter... what was she like?" asked the Hokage directly.

"Well…polite, very curious, quite advanced for her age," Iruka said, relieved as it seemed he was not in trouble after all.

'What did she do in the library?"

"As far as I know, she skimmed through the first year books. I saw her taking notes from a second year book."

"Which book?"

"Basic Techniques Volume 2."

"Did you notice anything unusual about the way she looked or acted?"

"No, she looks pretty much like any child her age, maybe a bit smaller. She already knows a lot about chakra control from her father. It's a shame that her parents won't let her enroll."

"Hmm, it's a shame, but... it might be for the best...What did you discuss with her?"

"She asked me a lot of questions about how to enroll, what I do and what shinobi do in general. Nothing strange." Iruka was confused, '_Why is the Hokage so interested in her? And who's that masked shinobi?' _

After a few more questions along the same vein, the Hokage finally dismissed Iruka. Sandaime then turned to Kakashi to say, "I thought you would want to know."

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully and replied, "Thank you, Hokage-sama, for keeping me informed."

…-…-…-…-…-


	4. KKT 1,4 First Day at the Academy

_**1.4 First Day at the Academy**_

Two years later, Iruka was now a seasoned sensei. A new class, a new beginning, Iruka felt a rush of adrenalin. He scanned the list of names before he introduced himself to the class and before taking attendance. Most of the names were familiar; he knew nearly all the families in the village.

'..._Otori Rikako… sounded very familiar... the family name of the village doctor… It's the girl from before!_ _She probably should have enrolled back then,'_ Iruka thought. '_I guess her parents finally relented.'_

He scanned the faces of the rows of students and recognized her immediately. Her dark hair was exactly the same, braided in the back with loose wisps floating across her thin face. She was sitting at the rear of the room, quietly writing in her notebook_. 'That notebook, it's a different one,'_ but he remembered how she always had it ready. Every so often she looked up from her book, then returned her attention to it to write something down.

The rest of the class was chattering loudly until Iruka called them to order. "All right you guys, class is starting now! I am Iruka-sensei. I'm one of several teachers here responsible for turning you brats into fine shinobis. Call out 'present' when you hear your name." As he took attendance, each child stood up and said present. When he called Rikako's name, she stood up, bowed deeply and answered, "Present, Iruka-sensei." Some of the other children noticed her bow and snickered, but she showed no trace of embarrassment.

The first day of class was an introduction to the school, to shinobi principles, to Iruka, and to themselves. "Okay, class, this is your first day so let's start with introducing ourselves and telling us all why you're here, what are your dreams and goals." Iruka went down the line, row by row. The standard answers were:_ I want to be strong; Being a shinobi is exciting; I want to be Hokage; I want to be like the legendary sannin Tsunade/Jiraiya (luckily no one said Orochimaru). _Finally he reached the back row.

Rikako had been sitting silently writing in her notebook throughout. Now she paused, brushed back a loose lock of hair, and slowly contemplated before answering, "I want to be a shinobi medic and save lives like my father."

Someone called out, "But being a shinobi means you'll have to take lives, too!"

She calmly reasoned, "Sometimes by taking a life, you may be saving more lives." It was a solemn point, but even the children at that age understood. The class was suddenly quiet.

Iruka thought, '_Such mature and serious words for one so young. But not too surprising given who her parents are.' _"Well, I see we have our own little shinobi medic," Iruka smiled and laughed to relieve the tension in the room. The rest of the kids laughed with him. Unfazed by his nickname, Rikako smiled and laughed along with everyone else.

-...-...-

_In order to enroll, she had to learn the transformation technique. The books in the library showed the seal required, but still it was difficult. She had asked Iruka to perform it over and over while he walked her home. She studied the movements of his hands, his concentration, and the chakra ratio. From that day on Rikako practiced the technique on her own for two years. 'I can do this. They can't stop me from being a shinobi,' she resolutely thought to herself as she molded her chakra to transform herself from an underweight seven year old to a weary woman nearing middle age. _

_On the day of enrollment, she transformed herself to look like her mother, forged the enrollment papers and attended the parental interview herself. Fortunately for her, students and parents were interviewed separately. At her level, she could not perform kage bunshin._

"_Okay, next is Otori Rika-san," Sandaime looked up from the list of interviewees. _

_The woman in front of him bowed formally, but did not speak._

"_Well, Rika-san, it's been many years since I've seen you. I hope your husband is doing well?"_

_She nodded in response._

"_We could use his services again at the shinobi hospital if he ever decides to come out of retirement," Sandaime continued._

_She smiled and shrugged._

"_I see your daughter Rikako, age seven, wishes to become a shinobi. You have no problems with this?" Sandaime raised an eyebrow._

_The woman finally spoke, "She can do whatever she wants. It's not like she ever listens to us. If you can knock some sense and respect into her, by all means…take her."_

_Sandaime chuckled, "I see, she's a rebellious one. Well, everything seems to be in order. It was good seeing you again Rika-san. Give my regards to your husband. Please, send your daughter in now."_

_The woman bowed deeply before leaving._

_A minute later, a thin pale girl with large dark eyes, entered the room. She stood in front of Sandaime and bowed respectfully. Her right hand casually brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. She was composed and calm, unlike most of the other children who were in awe of the great Professor._

"_All right, Rikako-chan, tell us why you want to be a shinobi," asked one of the other interviewers while the Hokage sipped his tea (he tried not to smoke in front of children)._

"_It's an important and honorable profession. I want to protect this village and its people, and save as many other shinobi as I can."_

_Sandaime smiled,"Well said, Rikako-chan, as expected from the daughter of a fine shinobi medic like your father..." _

_Afterwards, the interviewers discussed a problem. "What should we do about this?" asked Izumo._

"_She's able to do the transformation technique at her age, but she does not have parental consent," Kotetsu pointed out disapprovingly._

_Sandaime took a deep puff from his pipe and pondered carefully before replying, "She will. Her parents will find out soon enough. She won't be able to hide it from them forever. I doubt very much if they'll be able to stop her. Just go ahead and register her."_

_-...-_

_Dinner was usually a quiet affair in the Otori household. Dr. Otori liked to read his newspaper while eating and forbade any talking. Rika was usually too tired to attempt conversation. Rikako ate little and was usually done well before her parents._

_But this time, the night before the first day of school, Rikako announced to her parents what she had done._

"_I'll be going to the shinobi academy tomorrow," she said as she took a bite of her desert, green tea ice cream over mochi._

"_You can't, not without parental consent. We've been through this," her father scowled as he glanced up from his newspaper_

"_The school requires your consent. I don't." She calmly continued to eat her desert._

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Her father now gave her his full attention. His newspaper was forgotten, even though he had been absorbed with the gossip and advice columns._

"_I transformed to look like mom and I enrolled myself."_

"_You can't do that!" he nearly burst a vein._

"_I already did," Rikako said as she finished the last of her desert._

_Her father was livid but he knew he couldn't stop her without chaining and caging his daughter like an animal, so he gave in, rare for such a domineering giant of a man. "We know we can't stop you. You know how we feel about this. I hope you're certain this is the path for you," he sighed. _

_Rikako nodded and excused herself. She went up to her bedroom to read._

_Her mother had said nothing throughout the exchange between her husband and daughter, but now she started to tremble._

"_So it's begun. Maybe the school will help her..." Rika finally voiced her thoughts._

"_Maybe, or maybe it will increase her chakra and make things worse..." her husband replied darkly._

_  
__-...-_

_-…-...-...-...-...-_


	5. KKT 1,5 Evaluation of Academy Graduates

_**1.5 Evaluation of the Academy Graduates**_

"Well, this year's class is fairly promising, a few of them should make chuunin within a couple of years," Sandaime said thoughtfully while scanning the list of academy graduates. "Any particular thoughts Iruka?"

Iruka nodded. After six years, he was now proud to be a veteran sensei, respected, one that the Hokage could rely upon. He sat up and read each name from the list, commenting on what he felt were the students' strengths and weakness to balance the 3 man genin teams. The other senseis gave their input as well.

He stopped at Rikako's name, taking extra time to consider her abilities. "Based on these test scores she's under-rated. Like most female shinobis, her weakness is taijutsu, but her ninjutsu is superior, and she's extremely intelligent."

"Hmmm, but Iruka, her test scores are above average, but nothing superior. In fact, wasn't she supposed to graduate last year?" asked one of the other senseis.

"She didn't take the exams last year, said she was sick. I offered her a makeup and she refused, said she wasn't ready. I even offered to pass her based on her past test scores, but she said it was unfair to the other students. Her grades from last year were near the top. This year I think she's just been working on perfecting techniques on her own and hasn't been paying as much attention in class or studying. She's probably one of the best students I've ever had, but she's a bit of an underachiever and very independent."

Sandaime said nothing but raised an eyebrow and darted a look at Kakashi, who remained expressionless. Iruka caught the subtle exchange between the two and wondered, '_What is it about this girl that involves Kakashi? All these years and I still have no idea. Damn annoying being kept in the dark like this.'_

"Independent? Sounds like she should be assigned to you Kakashi," Sandaime finally said.

"Yes, Hokage-sama..." Kakashi nodded with his usual bored expression.

After the round robin discussion among all the chuunin and jounin sensei, the three man genin teams were assigned. The process was relatively simple. The top students were generally paired with the worst students. Middling students ended up together. Of course they also considered areas of talent. Those skilled in taijutsu were paired with those skilled in ninjutsu. Genjutsu was not considered as most academy students did not have much experience in genjutsu, which usually involved advanced techniques.

Kakashi quickly looked at the profile summaries of the genins he was assigned.

_Mori Kenji –_

_Ninjutsu: 2, Taijutsu: 3, Genjutsu: 1, Intelligence: 1, Strength: 3, Speed: 3, Stamina: 3, Seal: 1 - Notes: superior strength, above average thrown weaponry, excellent work ethic, enthusiastic, reprimanded for unauthorized fighting with other students_

_Otori Rikako –_

_Ninjutsu: 3, Taijutsu: 1, Genjutsu: 3, Intelligence: 4, Strength: 1, Speed: 1, Stamina: 2, Seal: 4 - Notes: above average strategic skills, poor thrown weaponry, good work ethic, calm under pressure, reprimanded for not paying attention in class (was reading non-related books)_

_Tokudaiji Takeo –_

_Ninjutsu: 2, Taijutsu: 2, Genjutsu: 1.5, Intelligence: 3, Strength: 1.5, Speed: 2, Stamina: 1.5, Seal: 2 -Notes: above average strategic skills especially trap construction, very poor work ethic, completely unmotivated, reprimanded for sleeping and snoring in class_

_'Well, this doesn't seem too bad_,' Kakashi mused, '_at least it can't possible be as bad as it was with my first genin team. Of course these guys have to pass my test first…'_

Iruka thought about all his graduating students. They didn't know about what came next. They weren't truly genin until they passed their respective sensei's test. '_That Kakashi, I wonder if he's still using his impossible version of the bells test. So unfair, Naruto's team was really, really lucky to have passed. I wonder how these guys will fare_. _But Rikako is on that team. She's a smart one. Will she be able to read beneath the underneath?'_

_-...-_

Iruka thought back to Rikako's first week of school

_At recess the other kids would run around and play while she sat on a bench writing in her notebook. A few days after the start of classes, a towheaded boy rather large for his age, came up and snatched her notebook away._

_She stared at him but said and did nothing. She appeared completely calm, even smiled slightly, but the air seemed to change as if it became statically charged. Iruka was on the other side of the yard when he felt…something. He turned to see Shigeru holding the notebook high above her._

_The boy towered over her saying, "What's so important about this notebook that you can't join the rest of us? Do you want it back? Beg for it!"_

_Iruka was about to intercede when the boy suddenly yelled out in pain and dropped the book. Rikako quickly grabbed the book off the ground, clutching it to her chest. With tears forming in her eyes she ran toward Iruka. _

"_He tried to take my book," she sobbed, but there were no full tears. Iruka told her to go inside and then he walked over to the bully. _

"_I was just trying to get her to join the rest of us, I didn't do anything, but look at my hand," Shigeru complained._

_But his hand was fine, normal, not a scratch, yet the boy claimed it was throbbing in pain. _

_-...-_

After that incident, Iruka kept his eye on her. What was that strange feeling he had? And was she really crying? And what wasin that notebook? He was very tempted to take a peek himself. But there were no more incidents. She became more like the other children. She no longer had her notebook out during recess and she made a conscious effort to play with the other kids. Over the years, there was still a distance between them and she never had any close friends. But in general she was well liked, especially for giving advice to others and helping with their techniques. And she always kept a smile on her face.

...-...-...-...-...-


	6. KKT 1,6 Kakashi Takes Over

_**1.6 Kakashi Takes Over**_

"Maybe he's on a super dangerous mission, " said the large boy who wore his forehead protector covering the top of his head and tied in the back.

"Maybe he's dead," yawned the sleepy eyed boy who covered his eyes with his forehead protector.

"Maybe this is a test of patience," surmised the sole female member of the team. "Or maybe he's just an irresponsible idiot," she added with a laugh.

"That can't possible be true," objected Kenji, "he must be on a dangerous mission. After all, he's an elite shinobi right? All jounins must take their duties seriously!"

"Well, he can't take it seriously if he's already dead," muttered Takeo fatalistically.

Rikako shrugged. "Well, you'd like to think all shinobis are responsible, but that's probably not a promotion criteria. Essentially you just need to be able to fight well. But I doubt very much that they'd let someone irresponsible be in charge of a genin team."

"Fighting…ugh…that's the worst part about being a shinobi. Who wants to get hurt?" sighed Takeo as he laid his head on his arms.

"That's what it's all about! Testing your strength!" Kenji looked down at the sleepy boy disapprovingly.

"Do you guys know anything about him?" asked Takeo with his eyes closed.

"Well, I think my dad was on the Anbu with him for a short while. When I asked him about the sensei we might be assigned, he said that he hoped I wouldn't get Kakashi-sensei, but he didn't say why," Rikako replied thoughtfully.

"Your dad's a shinobi?" asked the larger, awake boy.

The girl nodded, "Well, he was. Now he's a civilian, a village doctor. My mom works with him as a nurse."

"That's great that your dad was a shinobi. You must know a lot already. My parents just run the dumpling restaurant."

"That's better," said the near-sleeping genin, "you get all the dumplings you can eat. I love dumplings." The last thought was enough to cause him to raise his head and smile at his new teammate. '_Can't hurt to make friends with him. Maybe he'll treat us to a free meal.'_

"So what do your parents do?" asked Rikako politely, just in case he didn't have any.

"Umm, well my dad's an architect. He travels a lot since there's not much call for that around here. I don't get to see him much. My mom…well…she works part time at Pink's Bookstore," he mentioned the last part reluctantly.

Rikako mused, "Pink's Bookstore? That sells only…adult publications."

"Really? Really? You mom works there?" asked the larger boy with great alacrity.

"Yeah, well, it's only part time. My dad sends home money, but we have a large family so she still has to work. You know…I think she mentioned Kakashi-sensei is one of Pink's best customers!"

"No way! We get a perverted sensei!" groaned Kenji. '_What is he doing then? Is that why he's late? Is he with some woman? He's not on a mission?'_

Rikako shrugged. "I'm sure having a preference for adult books won't affect his teaching performance. It's not like someone would read that stuff all the time or in front of kids our age…"

…-…-…-…-…-

The three new genin waited in the classroom for hours. All the other genin teams left long ago with their sensei. At first they talked about their past classes, what they've been doing, and their plans for the future. After 2 hours, they lapsed into silence. Takeo decided to take a nap. Kenji started doing pushups on the floor. Rikako took out a book she just started, "The Ninja Wars, a Revisionist Perspective." Another hour later Rikako closed her book, Takeo woke up, and Kenji finally stopped exercising.

"He'd better have a damn good excuse for being this late," complained Kenji as he placed the chairs and tables back in position (he had been using them as weights). "If it's a mission, I hope we get to hear about it."

"I still think he's testing us to see how patient we are," Rikako rationalized. "Everything from now on is a possible test to see if we can be shinobi."

"Well, it's still annoying," muttered Takeo, "I wish we could do something..."

…-…-…-…-…-

_'Okay, I think I've made those guys wait long enough and I did finish most of my new book already. They should have spent enough time together to form some bonding. Let's see how pathetic this group is_,' Kakashi thought on his way to the academy. Leaving the team alone for a few hours was his way to encourage the genin to learn about each other, to bond, in the hopes that they would act as a real team in the test that was to come. Of course that never worked. The genin would spend time together yes, but when it came time for the test, it was always every man for himself (or every woman for herself). He always gave them a second chance too, and all but Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had failed.

_'My ex-genin,' _he thought fondly but a bit sadly_. 'I hope this time things will work out better. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm just not cut out to be a teacher.'_ Kakashi went through the usual emotions he had before meeting a new team, first near giddy anticipation, then hopefulness, doubtfulness, then self-doubt, not that anyone could tell by his characteristic nonchalant demeanor. He opened the door and stepped into the classroom. '_No falling eraser, good sign of maturity_.'

"Hello, sorry I'm late but..." he started to say, but stopped abruptly. All three genin were sleeping! He walked to the front of the class and raised his voice. "You can call me Kakashi-sensei..." They all continued to ignore him. Kakashi raised his hands and slammed them on the desk in front of him. None of the three even flinched. '_Impressive_,' he laughed to himself, _'they've coordinated an effort to annoy me_. _Maybe I should use a justu to teach them a lesson, but I guess I deserve it.'_ "Okay, that's enough you guys. I'm sorry for being late. But my first impression of you is... you're all annoying lazy brats!"

The large boy with blondish hair peeking out from under his headwrap woke up first and asked sleepily, "Excuse me, did you say something?"

The smaller boy with unruly dark blue hair stretched his limbs in an exaggerated motion and gave a huge yawn.

The petite girl with erratically braided hair blinked her large eyes, and asked, "Is it time to go home?"

…-…-…-…-…-

The three genin followed Kakashi outside where he asked each of them to tell him something about themselves.

The tall blondeboy, Kenji, volunteered to start. "I like to keep active and train all the time otherwise I get bored and I hate being bored."

_'Ooookay...attention deficit disorder_,' Kakashi appraised.

Takeo spoke next. "I like working with my hands, making things or designing things. Maybe I'll design weapons someday. I actually want to be an artist, but there's no money in that. Being a shinobi is at least a regular job. Umm, I don't like pain."

_'How...practical_,' Kakashi mused.

"I like learning new things. And I hate waiting," Rikako said pointedly but with a smile.

_'Was that a slight?' _Kakashi arched an eyebrow.The genin waited for Kakashi to tell them something about himself, but he didn't. He just said, "We'll meet again early tomorrow for survival training, 6AM. Bring your weapons and ninja gear."

Kenji asked, "What's survival training?"

Kakashi started to chuckle, "You'll see. But if you don't pass, you'll have to go back to the academy. The average failure rate is 67 percent. Oh, and don't eat anything for breakfast because the training will make you throw up." He chuckled again gleefully.

The girl raised her hand. The gray haired jounin looked at her, his eyebrow rose in response. "Actually, to avoid nausea, you should have something in your stomach. I recommend some saltine crackers to help absorb the stomach acid," she explained. The two boys nodded and took note.

Kakashi was slightly annoyed at the blip in his plans. '_But that still won't help them_,' he thought. '_Guess she picked up something from her father. After all, he was a great shinobi medic.'_

...-…-…-…-


	7. KKT 1,7 The Bells Test

_Author's notes: The strategy to pass the bells test was the original inspiration to write this story though it was one of the last parts to be fully written. That's why I had to create a new genin team for Kakashi rather than write an AU story._

_**1.7 The Bells Test**_

Next morning the three genins arrived on time at the designated place by the three posts. It was still dark. After the first half hour of waiting, the sun started peeking through, but all three genins went back to sleep. Rikako didn't actually sleep, though her eyes were closed, instead she silently performed her meditation and chakra control exercises. After two hours she took out a book from her backpack on "Medicinal Herbs Native to Konoha" and started to read and take notes. Kenji woke soon afterwards and started to do his morning exercises. Takeo continued to sleep.

"What's with this guy?" grumbled Kenji. "He's late again! And he's the one who picked the time. Good thing I had some toast before I left home."

Rikako shrugged, "I'm sure he's just testing us again. He can't be that irresponsible."

"Well, he didn't have an excuse yesterday. He'd better have a good one today!"

Kenji's ranting finally woke up poor Takeo. "Why don't you two just get some more sleep before he gets here? You can save your energy for whatever's coming."

"I'm too wired to wait any longer! Ugh! I can't wait for the test. I hope it involves lots of action."

"I hope it's a written test so I don't have to move," yawned the sleepy boy.

"That seems very unlikely," Rikako reasoned. "He said it was survival training, so maybe we have to hunt for food."

"That sounds like fun! We can use our shuriken and kunai to hunt rabbit or deer, and then skin them for their fur…" Kenji was now enthused.

"I think fishing would be better," muttered Takeo, thinking of sitting in a boat all day and not having to move at all.

"Well, we should know soon enough. It can't be too much longer. It's already been three hours now…" Rikako sighed at the waste of time.

…-…-…-…-…-

_'Well, that should be enough time for them to bond some more, and to make them good and hungry.'_ Kakashi finally arrived, scratching his head with an embarrassed laugh, "Sorry guys, I was on my way when this huge flock of sparrows attacked me and..." He stopped when he saw the expressions on his new genin's faces. The larger boy looked ready to kill him. The other boy was still sleeping. The girl looked at him doubtfully, but she greeted him with a smile and an exaggerated bow, "Good morning Kakashi-sensei. We're all pleased that you could join us despite the horror you must have endured on your way."

Kakashi was over 4 hours late, which was actually an hour better than the last time he gave this test (Naruto's team annoyed him more because of the eraser incident which caused him to use up all his shampoo_). 'Maybe I was wrong, maybe this team is no better than my other one_,' Kakashi thought as he evaluated their reactions. ;_A hothead like Naruto, a guy even lazier than Shikamaru, and the girl - I can't tell if she's being sarcastic or polite. Sigh, it's already been three years since the last time I gave this test. Time sure flies, whether or not you're having fun.'_

He decided to get down to business and not finish his lame excuse. He gave them his usual test. "I have here 2 bells and 2 lunches. Whoever can grab a bell from me gets to stay as a genin and a free lunch. Unless you can grab a bell from me, you'll have to return to the academy."

The 2 boys looked flabbergasted. The girl remained expressionless except for the slight smile she maintained as part of her normal expression.

"You have got to be kidding! After all the exams and graduation ceremony, you're saying one of us has to go back?" Kenji was nearly shouting at the gray haired veteran shinobi.

"There are only 2 bells and 2 lunches so 1 person will definitely have to go back. But if none of you gets a bell, then you all go back. Come at me seriously, with the intent to kill or you'll all fail. When the alarm clock goes off, time is up." Kakashi chuckled as he walked away, but then stopped within range to observe them.

_Should be an interesting group based on their different personalities and complementary skills_, Kakashi thought as he watched the three huddle together.

Takeo was a wiry boy with gray eyes and wavy bluish hair that could use a trim. He was of average height and always looked like he could use a nap, or rather just woke up from one. He wore a dark blue hooded sweatshirt with matching pants. His forehead protector was worn in the usual fashion, and over his eyes when he napped.

Kenji was tall for his age, only half a head shorter than Kakashi, and built like a brick. His blondish brown hair was cut very short and his bright blue eyes were full of energy. He wore a gray T-shirt with an unofficial green ninja vest and khaki shorts with lots of pockets. His forehead protector was worn as a head wrap to cover his skull from the sun.

The girl had dark dark eyes, darker than his own gray ones, almost black, that had just a hint of green when reflecting the sun. Her long hair, a shade lighter than her eyes, was pulled back and tied in a loose braid. Strands of hair constantly escaped from the braid so she was always tucking them back behind her ears. She was slightly under average height and looked a bit thinner than she should. She wore a simple long sleeve black T-shirt and slim fitting black pants with a brown belt. Her forehead protector was worn on her left thigh to strap a second shuriken pack to her leg. '_She must be ambidextrous_,' Kakashi noted to himself.

…-…-…-…-

The smaller boy leaned on a tree and sighed, "I had a feeling it would be a bad day. I guess it's back to the academy for me."

Kenji said excitedly, "Going up against a jounin on our first day. Should be interesting. I can try out some of the techniques I've been working on."

"Wait, let's think about this. There's no way any one of us can beat a jounin. Even combined we can't do it. He can beat all of us, blindfolded, with one hand tied behind his back. He doesn't even need hand seals. This isn't what it appears. This must be a test of another sort," said the girl thoughtfully,

"What kind of test?" asked Takeo wearily. '_I'm so sick of tests! If this village only had other job opportunities!'_

Rikako pondered slowly, "Well, from what I know about Kakashi sensei, he was on the Anbu. The Anbu are organized into military units, platoons. They complete missions as a team rather than individually. He probably wants us to act like a team."

"A team? We hardly know each other," groaned Takeo.

"There's only 2 bells. If he wanted us to pass as a team, there should be 3. What you're saying doesn't make sense. I have a better chance of getting a bell than either one of you. Umm, no offense, of course," boasted Kenji.

"Listen, if we act as a team, there's a much better chance of getting both bells. Maybe he'll only pass two of us, but then whom would he choose if we acted as a team? He's got to pass all of us, right?" Rikako inferred.

The larger boy shook his head, "What if you're wrong? I'm not willing to take that chance. I'd rather rely on myself."

Takeo walked over to stand by Rikako. "What Rikako-chan says makes sense. If you're not willing to work with her, I will."

"That's because you're not strong enough, you need a girl's help!"

"Tell you what. You work with us and if only 2 can pass, I'll bow out and go back to the academy. Another year won't matter to me," Rikako offered coolly, ignoring his slight.

Takeo shook his head, "Well, that's not fair, maybe we should draw straws."

Kenji shook his head, "No way, I'm not taking any chances. The two of you can decide who goes back."

Rikako negotiated seriously, "Fine, you're guaranteed a bell. Takeo-kun and I will do rock, paper, scissors or something."

"Sure, any chance is better than none," Takeo smiled.

The would be kunoichi continued to lead the discussion. "Okay, first, what are your strengths and weaknesses? Oh, by the way, I brought some cereal bars and crackers. I was going to the library after this so I wasn't expecting lunch anyway. We can share my water, too..."

The three genins discussed and planned their strategy against one of Konoha's top jounin, while wolfing down the food. They only had an hour to get organized.

Kakashi heard enough to know they were going to come at him together. '_Good,'_ he thinks, _'this should be interesting_.' He took out the latest novel by Jiraiya, Icha Icha Tactics Vol 2, walked around, settled on a log, and started reading.

…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's notes: Actual bells test strategy is in next chapter. Sorry for the short chapters, I write my stories in Parts and small sections rather than chapters. _


	8. KKT 1,8 Teamwork

_**1.8 Teamwork**_

Nearly an hour later, Kakashi stopped reading his book and started to wonder why no one had attacked. '_I wonder what's going on. I didn't lose them did I? I didn't walk that far away. That would be too pathetic. What could they be planning? All the other genin teams in the past had attacked fairly quickly...'_

Suddenly he heard a bloodcurdling scream, and a thump! '_Probably a trap_,' he thought, but he ran quickly towards the scream while putting away his book.

Rikako was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious, blood flowing freely from a gash in her forehead. Her clothes were torn and bloody. A large broken tree branch spotted with blood lay by her side

_'Is this genjutsu?'_ Was Kakashi's first thought, but then he saw that it was real blood, real cuts. He hurried over and picked up her limp body. Her breathing was shallow and he immediately became concerned, '_Damn, I have to file an accident report on the first day_...'

A crouched figure came up from behind and threw a volley of shuriken at him. More shuriken rained from above. Rikako suddenly woke and slashed at him with her kunai. Kakashi quickly used the replacement technique and the log absorbed the shuriken and the kunai slash while the girl fell to the ground.

Kakashi was now among the trees and decided to go after the one who threw the shuriken from above. '_It'll probably be Kenji_.' He saw Kenji's shadow and stealthily made his way toward him. Once Kakashi was on a nearby branch behind Kenji, he prepared to attack but more shuriken came at him from behind. Kakashi easily blocked them with his kunai, but Kenji had been warned and was now on the move. Then the branches under Kakashi suddenly gave way and the branches around him exploded. He leaped to the ground. A net of vines nearly dropped on top of him, but Kakashi sidestepped that as well.

However, two bags of sand with exploding tags attached came down with the vines. The bags blew open and sand dispersed everywhere. Kakashi had to close his single exposed eye. More sand was thrown in his face. With his uncovered eye barely open, and his ability to sense chakra, he could make out a figure coming up from behind, throwing kunai, more shuriken were thrown from above, and another figure crouching low coming at him from the front. Kakashi kicked back while blocking the shuriken from above with his kunai and moving to avoid the kunai from behind. The figure behind him jumped out of the way. The figure in front didn't attack, but rolled away instead.

All participants stopped, waiting for someone to make the next move. When the sand finally settled, Kakashi saw that the figure in front of him was the girl, holding the 2 bells triumphantly in her hands. She was smiling, not happily or enthusiastically as one would expect, but her usual calm complacent smile, as if the final result was just the anticipated outcome and they had done nothing special at all.

-...-...-

"_Strengths and weakness…that's easy. I'm really strong and quite fast. Good at throwing kunia and shuriken. But…well…this is not a written test, so I don't have any weaknesses," Kenji smiled proudly._

"_I'm good at making traps. I think I'm pretty fast when I need to be. My shuriken and kunai throwing are good, I think. But I'm not terribly strong," Takeo shrugged._

"_What about ninjutsu? Do you guys know any special techniques?"_

"_I can do the basics, like henge, bunshin, and kawarimi, pretty well. I might even manage some camouflage techniques," Kenji added._

"_Just the basics for me," Takeo offered._

_Rikako nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'm good at thinking, but I can barely hit the broadside of a barn with my abysmal shuriken or kunai throwing. Traps are always good. What kind of trap do you think you can put together?" She directed her attention to the smaller boy._

"_Well, I don't have all my equipment with me…too heavy to carry…but I think I can make a net out of vines. We could try to lure him into a trap or ambush, but he's probably expecting that."_

_Kenji suggested, "Maybe we can create a distraction near where he is."_

_Rikako agreed, "We need a convincing distraction. I know what to do, just leave it to me when the time comes." She took out her notebook, outlined some scenarios and showed them to the boys. "Quiet he might be listening," she whispered._

_Kenji and Rikako started to gather lots of vines, and filled the 2 bags (that had held the food) with sand. Takeo used the vines to fashion a crude net. Then they gathered together all their weapons: 60 shuriken, and 18 kunai. Rikako gave 40 shuriken and 2 kunai to Kenji. She gave 10 shuriken and 10 kunai to Takeo._

"_We have about 10 minutes before the timer goes off. He should be nearby. Do we have everything ready?" asked Rikako. The two boys nodded._

"_Kenji will be throwing these as distractions. Takeo will be throwing these to cut the bells. I only need a few shurikens and kunais for what I need to do. Let's go."_

_She did not use genjutsu. A jounin like Kakashi would easily see through it. To make it convincing she took a kunai and slashed at herself. She screamed as loudly as she could while breaking the tree branch and jumping down with it. She slowed her breathing to make it seem as if she were unconscious. _

_The strategy was multi-layered. First Kakashi would have his arms full with her. Takeo was to creep behind and try to cut the bells, Kenji would throw his shuriken as a distraction. If that failed, she would try to cut the bells or hurt Kakashi. Failing that, Kakashi would come after them. There would be 2 on the ground and 1 in the trees. He would probably escape to the trees and take out the one who was hiding. He would appear behind Kenji. They had sawed at the branches with their kunai to weaken them and attached exploding tags. Once Kakashi fell, Takeo threw the trap. It was expected that Kakashi would be able to avoid the net, but the sand was a different matter. The sand had to work or they would have no more chances. Takeo crept from behind again and threw this kunai at the bells while from above Kenji threw whatever he had left at the jounin. Rikako came from the front as a distraction and to grab the bells should Takeo succeed._

_-...-...-_

The gray haired jounin's uncovered eye was red and still tearing from the sand.

Takeo apologized, "I'm sorry about the sand. Are you okay?"

Kenji dropped out of the trees to see what was going on.

Rikako brushed her clothes off and said, "He's fine - he's a jounin. He let us win."

Kakashi thought, '_Yes, but I might have had to use a higher level jutsu against these guys.' _Out loud he said, "I'm impressed. That took a lot of teamwork. You guys are the first to truly pass the test."

Kenji asked, "You mean we all passed?" Kakashi nodded in reply. Kenji started jumping around excitedly. "Hey, that was fun, can we do it again?"

Takeo smiled happily, "Rikako-chan's the smart one who came up with the plan. I was ready to go home."

Rikako blushed, she was always uncomfortable with compliments. "I just had the general idea, but I can't throw shuriken well or make trap."

Kakashi smiled through his mask at his new genin team.

Takeo tentatively cleared his throat, "Umm, what about lunch? There's only two?"

"Oh, well…I really didn't expect you all to pass…heh heh," Kakashi laughed nervously. '_Crap, now they expect me to buy lunch for everyone_!'

"If we didn't work as a team, you would not have let any of us get a bell." It was a statement rather than a question coming from the girl.

Kakashi nodded and turned their attention to the shinobi memorial. "The most important thing about being a shinobi is team work. In the ninja world, those who don't follow the rules are called trash but those who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash. The names on that memorial are all the shinobi who died in the line of duty. My best friend's name is engraved there."

_'Now I'm depressed_,' Takeo thought morosely, '_and I was feeling a bit better, too_.'

But Kenji was unfazed by the solemn words. "So how did he die? How old was he? What kind of mission was it? Were you there when it happened?"

Lost in his memories, and perhaps annoyed by the inappropriate questions, Kakashi did not respond. Rikako shot her teammatea warning look and shook her head.

To avoid the awkward silence and change the subject she spoke. "Teamwork is very important in order to efficiently and effectively complete a mission," she said in her analytical tone. "The more you care about your team members, the more likely you'll protect each other and survive to see the mission through. Staying alive, keeping others alive, should always be considered first." Then she added to herself, '_However, being overly emotional can also negatively effect mission completion. Friendship, loyalty, determination, persistence, everything must be in balance and the goal itself must be weighed against the cost of lives.' _

Kakashi woke up at her words. '_Who's the sensei here? Is she quoting her father?' _Though her words echoed his sentiment, they were delivered as if she were reciting a passage from a book. '_She was the one who came up with the plan to get the bells. But was it really teamwork, or was she just using the two boys to advance herself? Did she care about them at aIl? She knew it was a test of teamwork - she read between the lines and passed the test. In a real life situation, would she work as a team, or abandon her team members to complete the mission, or to save herself? It seemed she would go to rather extreme lengths to accomplish her goals. The cuts, the wounds, the blood, there was a least half a pint, yet the way she continued to fight, and her focus...she really meant to hurt me!'_

And there were other cuts. Once she washed off the blood in the river, Kakashi saw her arms exposed. There were scars, lots of them, some faded, some more recent. They looked as though they were made by some sharp edged instrument.

_'What happened to her? Why all those scars? She hasn't been on any missions and academy students don't get injured like that in training.'_ Dark thoughts raced across Kakashi's mind.

…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: _

_Hope the bells test strategy was reasonable, took a while to coordinate it on paper._

_Next up, explanation of the cuts, but then another mystery._


	9. KKT 1,9 Dining with the Doctor

_**1.9 Dining with the Doctor**_

"Gardening! Our first mission is gardening! This isn't a mission. This is a chore I do for my mom!" Kenji complained as he jabbed his hoe against the ground.

"Yeah, what's this supposed to be doing for our training?" Takeo agreed as he slowly raked some stubborn weeds.

Rikako leaned on her tiller and wondered, "Where's Kakashi sensei anyway?" She looked around and saw him in a tree reading a book. "Is he getting paid for this? He's not doing anything. He's not even watching us. And what's with that ban symbol on the back of the book? He really is irresponsible." She frowned in disapproval.

The larger boy muttered, "I think we got stuck with the worse sensei. He was late again today. All the good missions were probably handed out already."

"Well, I'm sure we'll work up to something more interesting. This isn't so bad," said the smaller boy, thinking that Kakashi might overhear them so he'd say something positive. '_Never hurts to be on someone's good side_.'

Rikako shrugged and looked around the garden. "Well, let's make the best of this. How would you guys like a lesson in herbology? It can help if you're ever lost in the forest and need medicine." As they pulled weeds, tilled the ground, and planted seeds and bulbs, Rikako recalled all she learned from her parents and from the book she read recently. "…garlic can be used as an antiseptic...ginger is an analgesic, it's also good for motion sickness and upset stomachs…ginseng is good for oxygenating the blood, it's a medicine for asthmatics..."

Kakashi _was_ listening in as he pretended to read his book. (No one can read the same book that many times!) '_That's good, they're learning something useful, and she's a good teacher, makes my life easier.'_

"Oh, here's a jutsu my dad taught me to help with my mom's gardening," Rikako performed a moderately complex seal and the earth parted as if it had been tilled for planting. "It's earth element, earth runnel," she explained, "but you have to be careful not to release too much chakra or you'll be digging up all the dead gophers!"

Kakashi lazily observed his industrious genin team from his elevated vantage point as they worked the field. Despite Kenji's complaints, he threw himself into the work, using it as an opportunity to exercise his muscles. Unfortunately, his exuberance caused dirt to fly all over, and especially in Takeo's face. The smaller boy said nothing, but Kakashi noticed he purposely hid a rake near Kenji, who ended up tripping over it. '_Maybe these guys are going to be as much trouble as my last team_,' Kakashi sighed.

…-…-…-…-…-

_'I guess I should head over now. I'm soooo not looking forward to this_,' the veteran jounin thought as he walked slowly over to the house of the village doctor. '_It's been a long time since I faced him_. _But as Rikako pointed out, it's all in the name of teamwork. I have to set a good example. I just hope he doesn't bring up our past history.'_

Kakashi thought about his new genin team. Other than the rake incident, nothing particular happened. They all seemed to get along fairly well. '_That's good. I don't think I can deal with another trio like the one I had last time. Much as I cared about them…they were just too trying at times…and things went disastrous wrong in the end. But those two were special cases, survivor of a massacre, container for a demon…no, my new team is perfectly normal... If I do notice any rivalry, I'll be more proactive this time. I'm not going to let what happened with Sasuke happen again…'_

Rikako had invited Kakashi and her teammates over to her house for dinner. Kakashi was late as usual. The door was left open for him and he could tell from the animated conversation that dinner was nearly over. While entering the dining room, Kakashi started to apologize, "Sorry I'm late but…"

"Just take a seat Kakashi." The deep growling voice came from someone just as one would expect. A large man sat at the head of the table. Even sitting he was about as tall as Kakashi. At the other end of the table, sat a tired looking woman about half his size. Kakashi moved obediently to sit at the remaining vacant seat, at her right and across from his female genin. He nodded a greeting to her mother who shoved a plate of food in front of him without a word.

Kakashi listened, amused, as the kids excitedly talked about future missions and jutsu they'd like to learn. Dr. Otori then entertained them with stories of his past missions. They were generally rather somber, all ending in death and a moral lesson. The lessons were underscored by his own ominous immense dark presence.

"…so the moral of the story is, always always check your equipment…so the moral of the story is never never trust a client...so the moral of the story is always always listen to your superior…" With the last statement, he shot a look at Kakashi.

The boys listened, enraptured, especially during the gory parts (Kenji was enraptured with excitement while Takeo was enraptured with disgust). Rikako, who had heard the tales all before, ad nausea, seemed to be thinking of something else. She was eyeing Kakashi suspiciously. "Kakashi sensei, may I ask why you're not eating?"

"I'm…uh…not hungry."

"Considering the effort my mother expended to prepare this sumptuous meal for our guests, it would be polite to have a little something. Perhaps it's because of all the time that has elapsed since she finished cooking. Should I heat it up for you?" She continued to stare at him with her dark voluminous eyes.

"Oh…well…maybe you can put it in a doggy bag?" Kakashi suggested uneasily. '_Didn't anyone ever teach her it's not polite to stare?'_

"That doesn't seem to be an appropriate request," she raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's all right Rikako-chan," her mom said wearily, "we're familiar with Kakashi-sensei's… eccentricities." Rika had said little throughout dinner, just busying herself with serving.

Now finished with his stories, Otori offered, "Well, boys, how would you like to see my weapons collection? I have antiques from all over the world. Of course, I do have a lot of modern weapons. That's where all my hard earned money goes. I can probably open up my own museum."

"Awesome!" Takeo said excitedly. The sleepy look he usually wore was completely gone.

Kenji got up immediately. Rikako nodded and motioned to the boys to follow her upstairs to her father's study. Her mother collected the dishes then stayed in the kitchen to pack Kakashi's take-out dinner and to do the dishes. It seemed she did not want to be around Kakashi at all. Kakashi was then left alone with the good doctor.

"It's been a long time Kakashi-kun," said Dr. Otori while pulling at his formerly black beard, now speckled with gray. "We thought we would see you more often, considering."

Kakashi replied nonchalantly, "I've been kept informed."

Otori scoffed, "Have you? Do you know what life has been like for us since you brought her?"

-...-...-

_Rika was in tears. There's the shrill sound of a baby crying in the background. _

"_I can't take this anymore! Who ever heard of a baby who doesn't sleep?" Her face was worn and haggard and it was apparent that she hadn't slept much either. "We've been through four nannies already! None of them can take it. What are we going to do with her?"_

"_It's too late, we've agreed to take her in."_

"_But we know nothing about her."_

"_She's a baby. All babies cry."_

"_Yes, but they sleep as well. She doesn't sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time!"_

"_It'll get better. She won't be a baby forever."_

"_What if it gets worse? What if there's a demon inside her?"_

"_There are no seals on her body. She's a normal baby with colic."_

"_Have you ever seen colic like this?"_

_He shrugged, "It's my first child, too, you know, but I've heard parents complain. Besides, what do you propose we do? Who's going to take her now?"_

_Her brow furrowed and she became ashamed of her thoughts of abandonment._

"_We'll find someone else to help out. We'll hire 2 people this time, and you can all rotate shifts or something. It'll just be for a while longer. It'll get better you'll see."_

"_Damn you Kakashi, what kind of creature have you given us," Rika muttered. "He must know more than what he told us..."_

_-...-...-_

"But it didn't get better for nearly four years. Rikako stopped crying all night, but still the slightest thing sent her wailing inconsolably for hours. And there were other problems. Have you seen her bedroom? Her room is bare except for the bed and a set of drawers. There are no figurines or mirrors or picture frames. Do you know why? It's because they all break when she's sleeping."

Kakashi's eye widened. "But how...I've seen the cuts on her arms…"

"Yes, that's from the broken glass from the picture frames, even the windows. She has nightmares all the time. Sometimes she doesn't wake from them. It seems her chakra leaks out while she's sleeping. That's why we taught her chakra control at a young age. Just watch her when she gets mad. Really mad. You'll know what I mean."

"She just seems so... well adjusted."

"She's a great kid, but stubborn and she does not have a good temper, she just keeps it controlled. Rika and I love her as if she were our own... I'm sorry, that's not true. We try to, but...it's been difficult. We were worried about the shinobi training…if her chakra level were to increase... Things are better now. Still, I wish you weren't her sensei." Otori sighed.

Kakashi thought over his words. "I would have thought you would want me to be her sensei. After all, I know the truth, maybe I can help her."

"The truth... that's what may destroy her..."

…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: I know people don't usually like fanfics with OCs so thanks for reading this far! I placed my OC through the Mary Sue litmus test on livejournal, and she passed! Whew :)_

_Next up: Part II Strategy and Tactics - C mission in Wave Country, and the chuunin exams_


	10. KKT 2,1 Kakashi's Evaluation

**PART II Strategy and Tactics**

_**2.1 Kakashi's Evaluation**_

In the next few months there were more D missions interspersed among their training sessions.

During babysitting, Rikako demonstrated first aid and how to help a choking victim when the six year old quintuplets they were babysitting proved more than even Kakashi could handle._ 'It's like five kage bunshin, but all at the original chakra level!' _thought the veteran jounin as he tried to remove bubble gum from his hair. '_This was the worst D mission ever! My poor hair... sob...'_

During dog walking, the petite kunoichi elaborated on the different breeds and their specific characteristics while the boys tried to teach them tricks. In addition to her book based knowledge, she had some practical experience as her father often had to double as a vet. "Did you know that attempts to breed dogs for specific characteristics cause recessive genes to manifest? This leads to genetic diseases and undesirable traits such as dwarf brains in Alsatians, eyes that can literally pop out in Chihuahuas, seizures in..."

'_Hmm, interesting,'_ thought Kakashi as he watched over the team from his customary vantage point from a tree._ 'I wonder what she would say about my nin-dogs...'_

Though the team's bookworm did her best to make the missions educational, if not interesting, it was obvious the entire team was becoming extremely bored. '_I wish Kakashi sensei would take a greater interest in these missions,'_ she thought in exasperation.

Kenji complained, "I'm so sick of doing these odd jobs! We should be on a real mission by now. It's been months!"

"It's not so bad, we get paid well enough," Takeo pointed out as he stuck a piece of paper with his stick.

But Rikako agreed, "You're right! Kakashi sensei should speak to the Hokage."

"Yeah... Hey, Kakashi sensei, when do we get a C mission? Can't you do something the next time we see the Hokage?" Kenji yelled out to the figure by the trees. The three genin were picking up litter near the riverbank while Kakashi was lying back with his head resting on a protruding tree root.

Rikako elaborated, "Kakashi sensei, we have completed a total of 8 D class missions. It is apparent that our abilities and present level of training has allowed us to far surpass the skills required for such low level missions. It is advisable that to further advance our abilities, we should be allowed the opportunity to prove ourselves during a mission at the subsequent level."

Kakashi sighed, '_Why can't she ever speak simply when she wants something?' _But said aloud, "I suppose I can request a C mission from the Hokage the next time…"

_They're doing well_,' he thought, '_much more team spirit than my first genin team.'_

Kakashi couldn't help but compare his second team 7 (sensei were assigned the same number whenever possible to mitigate confusion) to his first. They were so much easier to deal with that things were quite…boring, uneventful, no yelling or fighting. And despite Otori's dire warning, nothing strange had occurred. Well, there was that one time, but...it was no big deal...and nothing since.

And he got first dibs on the latest adult books, plus a 10 percent discount thanks to Takeo's connection. And he got free meals at the dumpling house thanks to Kenji. '_How much better can life get?'_

That wasn't to say that the team was perfect. But they did stick together…especially against him. He had been better about his lateness, but still not good enough for his team…the longer he was late, the more elaborate the trap.

-...-

_Ten minutes late: The top horizontal post of the gate where Kakashi usually appeared to meet his team was coated with oil. As a jounin his chakra still glued his feet, but he flipped upside down before his feet caught hold._

_Twenty minutes late: Pressure sensitive explosive notes were camouflaged on top of the gate. He felt them trigger and managed to avoid them, but the top of the gate was destroyed. Sandaime was not happy._

_Thirty minutes late: The entire meeting area was booby trapped with trip wire, more explosive notes, and kunai. _

_-...-_

Kakashi didn't mind. It was actually fun to see what his genin would come up with. It was good practice and they did it as a team. The two boys thought of the traps as practical jokes and laughed each time he (almost) fell for them. Rikako laughed as well, but there was always disapproval in her eyes and it seemed she really wanted to punish him, really hurt him for being late. Or maybe he was just being paranoid.

The team had completed the tree climbing exercises successfully without any accidents. They were willing to give each other tips and assistance. No rivalries or jealousies. Well, there was that incident when Kenji was boasting how much higher he could climb than the other two. Later he found he could not climb down after the other two set traps all along the tree trunk and on the ground around the tree. And there was that incident when Kenji was fed up with Takeo's laziness and buried the sleeping genin under a tree, with the girl's help. (She was nothing if not fair.)

They even advanced to the water walking exercises, which required much more chakra control. The girl took to it like the proverbial fish to water. Her chakra control was excellent, like Sakura's, no surprise considering her father taught her chakra control when she was barely out of diapers. The boys had more problems, and Kakashi had to admit he laughed, a lot, while watching them almost drown. Takeo got the hang of it first, much to Kenji's chagrin.

And their own techniques were coming along nicely. Although Kenji was excitable like Naruto, he took his training very seriously and was not normally a prankster. He specialized in the use of strength techniques. But the tall solidly built boy was also quite agile and fast. '_He'll grow up to be like Asuma_,' Kakashi evaluated.

Despite Takeo's love for resting and sleeping, his skills had also improved. He learned to imbibe his traps with chakra, and he was a natural for barrier techniques. (All the more trouble for Kakashi when he was late.) He talked about as much as Sasuke ever did, but he was like Shikamaru in his lack of motivation. '_Well, he'll probably outlive us all,'_ Kakashi evaluated.

But if Kakashi had to pick the most improved genin, he would have chosen the girl. Her thrown weaponry skills were much better, especially after switching to senbon. She found the lighter weight and shape easier to throw than kunai or shuriken, and easier to target using her chakra. She had an excellent memory and could recall complicated seal sequences, up to 20 katas. Her strength and taijutsu were still relatively weak, but she had good stamina. '_She just needed to learn to channel her chakra into strength and speed. That should come soon.' _

_'They're definitely ready for a C mission,' _their sensei thought_, 'I was just waiting for them to complain enough, ha ha.'_

Takeo was usually too passive to complain, and didn't mind the easy missions, but Kenji was more vocal. Rikako never directly complained but she would influence the boys to first voice a complaint so that it would appear she was only supporting her comrades and was not an instigator. But Kakashi saw through her manipulative tactics. Yet had she not been on the team, there would have been friction between the physical, energetic Kenji, and the quiet, low key Takeo. The girl somehow maintained a balance. Kakashi understood this and was duly impressed and relieved._ 'No Naruto-Sakura-Sasuke triangles_!' He thought happily.

Kenji was now boasting about his exercise routine, "...and now I can bench press over 200 pounds, over 500 with chakra. Really Takeo, you should work out more."

Takeo said nothing but was getting annoyed.

Rikako smiled and listened attentively and complimented him, "Wow, that's impressive, you'll be the strongest leaf genin soon!" But as he turned away, she rolled her eyes and smiled at Takeo, who smiled back.

The larger boy turned back to the girl and asked her, "Hey, how about a movie after this?"

Rikako took a few seconds to contemplate her answer. "That's a good idea. We could all use a break from training…

"All of us…?" Kenji started to say.

"Socializing together outside of official missions could be beneficial. What do you think, Takeo-kun?"

"A movie? Yeah, we should all go see that new one that's out. We can meet up after we change. What about Kakashi sensei?"

"We'd better not rely on him. If we have to wait for him we'd miss most of the movie. Besides, based on his preferred reading material, I doubt he'd be interested in a PG movie," Rikako laughed.

_'Hey! I wanted to see that movie too!'_ Kakashi thought disappointedly. '_Well, she has them both eating out of her hands, the way a kunoichi should. Rikako is as smart as Sakura, has as much chakra as Sasuke, and as...as...well, she has little in common with Naruto, except perhaps a defiant spirit. But while Naruto was obvious and loud, she's more subtle. But there's something about her, not just that incident...all my other genin have been easy to read but...Well, we'll see what happens in the next mission.'_

…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: "The incident" Kakashi is referring to will be explained in Part 3 in a flashback. Next up - mission to Wave Country._


	11. KKT 2,2 The First C Mission

_**2.2 The First C Mission**_

"A C mission, huh?" the Hokage looked at his scroll. "Kakashi, you think your team is now ready for a C mission?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. They've been training hard and have worked well together. All the D missions were accomplished efficiently and effectively."

"All right, let's see what we have here. There's a simple surveillance request by a businessman. He's an import-export manager and is away from home a lot. He suspects his wife of having an affair. Hmm, maybe this mission is not age appropriate..."

The tall blonde boy interrupted, "Hey wait, that sounds like something we can handle…"

The petite dark girl bowed respectfully, "Hokage-sama, despite our youthfulness, we are mature enough in our sensibilities to handle any uncomfortable situation without resorting to typical adolescent behavior. After all, we are trained shinobi."

"Well said, Rikako-chan," smiled Kakashi who wanted this particular mission as much as Kenji. He reached out to pat her on her head.

She ducked, but too late. He mussed up her hair. '_How annoying!'_

"All right," Sandaime agreed. "The client lives in the Wave Country. He has requested a contract for one week. Since this is a long mission, make sure you have all your necessary supplies and equipment. Also remember to itemize your expenses. We'll arrange for suitable housing. I'll inform the client you'll be arriving tomorrow evening so you should leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Rikako looked doubtfully at her sensei, "What would be a reasonable time for us to expect you to arrive, Kakashi sensei?"

_'She doesn't have any faith in me does she?'_ "Well, since it is our first C mission…I'll be on time. We'll leave at dawn…" Kakashi smiled fondly at his team.

…-…-…-…-…-

Kakashi was almost on time, just five minutes late, not long enough for his team to start contemplating his punishment.

They passed through the immense wooden gates of Konoha to walk along the main road that intersected with other paths to various villages. On the way, the boys discussed the mission. They found the circumstances quite hilarious.

"What does that old geezer expect? Marrying such a beautiful young wife," laughed Kenji.

Takeo agreed, "Yeah, of course she's after his money, it's sure not for his body!"

Kakashi ignored them, but agreed silently.

Rikako remarked seriously, "It's a sad thing not to trust someone you love. Suppose she thinks he's the one fooling around with a girl in every port."

"Well, don't you think she's cheating on him?" asked Kenji.

Rikako sighed, "Probably. And he's probably cheating on her, too. It's human nature to lie and cheat."

"That's a very cynical outlook for one so young, Rikako-chan," interjected their sensei.

The girl shrugged, "Maybe, but it's the truth, isn't it? As a shinobi that's what we learn, isn't it? The art of deception, it's the same thing."

Takeo shook his head. "That's not true. I mean, we learn how to deceive our enemies and opponents in battle. It's not like lying to friends and family."

The larger boy agreed. "Yeah, and all that emphasis on teamwork and being loyal to your team. That's totally different."

Rikako pondered, "Can you always be loyal to your teammates? What if it's a critical mission and they have to be sacrificed? You might have to make an ad hoc decision to betray them. What do you think Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm? Yeah, they're probably both cheating," Kakashi mused.

"No, I mean about betraying your comrades," Rikako repeated seriously.

Kakashi groaned inwardly and thought,_ 'It's Rikako's situational morality question of the week. She's always asking questions with no easy answers. I think I'll just give her my standard answer, I don't want to get into a lengthy debate right now.' _"Well, it would be up to each shinobi at that point in time to make his or her own individual decision."

All three genin yelled, "Cop out!"

...-...-...-...-

Kakashi had always tried to impress upon his genin teams the importance of teamwork and watching out for each other. He knew things were never quite as black and white as he made them out to be. The lessons that his father and Obito had taught him were not simple lessons. His father chose to save his comrades over completing his mission. Konoha suffered a defeat that led to many deaths and his father was disgraced. Since then he believed the mission came first, until Obito and his sacrifice. Since then Kakashi believed Obito and his father were right. But it was one thing to preach it and another to stand by it. He'd been lucky so far, he hadn't had to make such an impossible choice. Or rather he'd been unlucky and the choice had always been made for him.

There were no more precious ones in his life to protect, except for his past genin, who no longer needed him, and his current genin. Otherwise he kept to solo missions, avoided friendships, just so he would never have to make such choices. A lonely life, but a safe one.

Teamwork...friendship...that lesson was ultimately lost on his first team, wasn't it? Shinobi were a different and difficult lot. Their lives were so far removed from those of civilians even while residing in the same village. Comrades were friends. Rivals were friends. Or so he'd like to think. To think anything less would have tarnished the idealized memory of his best friend, the original owner of his sharingan.

The veteran shinobi looked over his shoulder at his team, a bit sadly. They were still naïve. But sooner or later they would have to make a difficult choice. Sooner or later they would have to take a life. No shinobi could avoid it, not even the shinobi medics like Otori. But taking an enemy's life was sadly easier than making a decision that would affect your comrades.

So though he preached the concepts of teamwork and friendship, he avoided them whenever possible. He knew his words, his lessons, really meant nothing. Real lessons had to be lived. Decisions were made on the spur of the moment. The boys on his team took his words to heart, at face value. But his advice was never good enough for the deeper thinker on his team.

-...-

"_What if we find that the person we're hired to protect is a criminal? Are we still bound by contract?"_

"_Well, in the contract there is a disclosure clause. If the client hasn't been honest with us, we can declare the contract null and void."_

_"What if it's an assassination contract but the victim is actually innocent?"_

"_Well, if the contract stipulates the crime, since he's innocent then the contract would be void."_

"_If one of us committed a crime and came to you for help, would you turn us in?"_

"_Well, it would depend on the crime and why you did it. But I would encourage you to turn yourself in."_

"_Would you eat human meat if you were starving and had no other alternative?"_

"_I don't know, I suppose so, but I wouldn't kill someone to eat them."_

"_If you were stuck in a cave with a stranger with only enough air for one person, would you kill him?"_

"_I would be able to get out of a cave easily."_

"_If someone were holding hostages and threatened to kill them unless his demands were met, and in order to get at him, some of the hostages could be killed, how do you weigh the demands against lives? What if more lives could be lost if he isn't taken out? Should the hostages be considered expendable?"_

"_Umm, could you repeat that?"_

"_If you were a medic-nin and a lord or kage of a neighboring country and a Leaf comrade were brought in at the same time, with similar injuries, whom would you save first?"_

"_Uh, ask your father that one."_

"_If you had the power over life and death, how many people would you sacrifice so that your loved ones will live? Double the number? Triple? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? How much more is a known life worth than those of strangers? As shinobi isn't our first priority to protect the nameless people of the village?"_

-…-

Sometimes it was all he could do to avoid answering her (often rather strange) questions, to avoid even thinking of them and opening up the Pandora's box of his past. It seemed she knew about him from her father and was insisting on testing or tormenting him. Or maybe he was just being paranoid and she just wanted to be ready for any situation. '_But how annoying!'_ Still he swore to himself that he'd protect his team, no matter what. Luckily, this was just a simple surveillance mission.

Towards the end of the day the team approached Wave Country. As they crossed the Great Naruto Bridge, Kakashi told his new team what it was like there three years ago. "You see this entire waterfront is new. This country was nearly destitute back then. This bridge has allowed vehicular trade traffic into Fire Country. Wave Country has become an important stopping ground for imports into Fire Country and this has freed up Fire Country's port congestion." The genin looked appreciatively at the immense structure. Takeo in particular was interested in its architecture and slowed his paced to study its joints.

"So why is it called the Great Naruto Bridge?" asked Rikako curiously, "There are no whirlpools here, are there?"

"It was named after one of my genin at the time. He inspired the entire town to stand up against a shipping magnate who was trying to take over."

Rikako nodded and filed away that piece of information. She wanted to ask more questions but knew Kakashi did not like to talk about his past missions or himself at all. He was a master of evasion, in every respect.

"Where will we be staying Kakashi-sensei?" asked Kenji who started to feel quite hungry despite having ate most of his shinobi rations.

"Well, since we're supposed to be doing undercover surveillance, the Hokage has sent a message ahead. We'll be staying with the family of the bridge builder Tazuna. That way if anyone identifies us as shinobi, they'll think we're here to visit a former client." Old Sandaime was a smart one. Tazuna still owed them big time for the mission that turned from a C to an A mission. Sandaime figured he could use Tazuna to house the team for free and still charge the client the going lodging rates.

Takeo showed more excitement than usual. "We get to meet the guy who designed this bridge? Awesome! But maybe we shouldn't be walking around with these forehead protectors. They kind of make us stand out."

"Kakashi-sensei, maybe you should remove your mask and wear sunglasses," Rikako suggested. '_Take off your mask for once, you weirdo!'_

Kakashi replied, "This is your mission not mine. I'm just here visiting an old client. You guys will be doing all the leg work. I'm just filing the report."

_'So what else is new?'_ The three genin thought.

It was the first time Kakashi had been back to Wave Country since the mission with Naruto's team, but despite all the changes, he was able to navigate the new roads and found Tazuna's house. It looked much as it did before, but its exterior had been recently renovated.

An older man, wearing glasses with gray hair and gray beard, answered the door. Despite his age he looked in good shape, smart and spry. Tazuna greeted the team, but was critical as usual as he looked them over. "Hmmf, Kakashi-sensei, I see your genin sure haven't improved any. That big one looks as dumb as an ox. That one looks like a wimp. And the girl...is she even old enough to sleep away from home?"

Kakashi scratched his head trying to think of an appropriate response.

Kenji was about to go off on the old geezer, but fortunately Rikako defused the situation. "Tazuna-san, deception is part of being a shinobi. We will be working incognito. If you are so fooled, then we have been successful." She gave him a respectful bow and a smile

_'Did she just call me a fool?'_ thought Tazuna.

Kakashi chuckled and reached out to pat the petite kunoichi on her head. "Yes, they're much stronger than they look."

The girl blushed and tried to move away, but her sensei had already messed up her hair._ 'How annoying!'_

"My daughter Tsunami is in the kitchen, dinner should be ready soon. My grandson Inari is out fishing, but he should be back by then. You can settle down first, your rooms are ready." Tazuna was now trying to be nice. "Kakashi-sensei has his own room. The girl can stay in my daughter's room, and the boys can stay in Inari's room while Inari bunks with me."

"So Kakashi sensei is the only one with his own room?" asked Kenji jealously.

"Of course, I'm the elite shinobi heading this mission," Kakashi smiled.

"I'm sure Kakashi sensei requires the most peaceful rest, considering his age and the amount of energy he expends during the day..." said the girl with a laugh_. '...reading his book. I wonder if he snores or wears that mask to sleep,' _she added to herself

Kakashi looked down at her. His right eyebrow curved just slightly, enough to show he was not as nonchalant as he always appeared. '_I'm NOT that old, just a few months before the big 3-0. If she were an orphan I'd teach her a lesson, but that would just get me in trouble with her father.' _

"Is there time for a nap before dinner?" asked the sleep-eyed boy. Traveling all day was something Takeo was definitely not used to.

Tazuna nodded, "You have an hour."

The team disbanded to their respective rooms before dinner where they performed their characteristic activities: Kakashi read a book by an up and coming author that even made him blush; Takeo slept while ignoring Kenji's grunts as he did situps and pushups; and Rikako wrote in her notebook.

…-…-…-…-…-


	12. KKT 2,3 Dinner at Tazuna's

_**2.3 Dinner at Tazuna's**_

Kakashi had already had his dinner secretly in his room (Tsunami was familiar with his idiosyncracies), but he joined everyone else at the dinner table as a matter of courtesy. He was last to arrive as usual and everyone else was involved in animated discussions.

Takeo and Tazuna struck a friendship despite the half century difference in ages. Takeo was interested in architectural and mechanical design and what better source of information than the old super expert bridge builder. They discussed the advantages and disadvantages among arch bridges, beam bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges. Tazuna was practically in seventh heaven. No one ever cared about bridge design. All they ever cared about was how much it cost, how long it would take and how long the bridge would last. '_I love this kid! Why can't Inari be more like him. A super career in architectural engineering is sooo much better than fishing or being a shinobi!'_

Kenji and Inari soon became buddies. Kenji was much taller but the younger boy was also on the verge of becoming a strapping young man. They talked about fishing and shinobi training and missions, but not the current one as that was still confidential. '_He reminds me of big brother Naruto, but much taller_,' Inari thought.

Thinking about the mission, Rikako asked Tsunami about Wave Country, its history, geography, politics, trade and current events. '_Who knows what information would come in handy even in a routine surveillance mission_,' she thought. Then she steered the conversation to the last time Kakashi was here. She reasoned they were more likely to obtain information about that mission from these civilians than from Kakashi himself. And Tsunami seemed pretty level-headed and not prone to embellishment unlike her son, who claimed he caught a fish _this big_.

"So, Kakashi sensei tells us Wave Country's recent prosperity is due to the building of the Great Naruto Bridge, named after one of his genin. Is that true?"

"Yes, it certainly is! Why I remember when Kakashi and his team showed up with my father. Kakashi was being carried by two of his genin. I was so worried!" Tsunami laughed at the memory.

"Oh really? What happened to him?"

"He used up all his… chakra is it? fighting this dangerous shinobi hired by Gatou, the horrible man who was trying to kill my father and ruin this country."

"Yeah, and that shinobi was a missing-nin and he had this humongous sword!" added Inari.

"Kakashi sensei, a jounin, used up all his chakra to defeat a single enemy," Rikako mused.

"Apparently he was a jounin missing-nin from the Hidden Mist Village," Tazuna recalled, "he had a young boy just a bit older than you guys who was his…apprentice."

"So what happened to them?" asked the curious girl.

"Kakashi sensei killed them!" Inari said in delight.

"He killed the boy too?" asked Rikako, surprised.

"That's not true," sighed Kakashi, who had stealthily been listening in to the various conversations, "that was an accident. The boy was fighting my genin, then he jumped in to save his friend at the last second. I couldn't stop my attack. Then Gatou's men killed his friend." '_A shinobi is a shinobi, an enemy an enemy, no matter what the age. You can't discriminate or you'd be killed instead,' _Kakashi thought sadly, recalling how Haku was such a good and pure soul (for a shinobi).

"Wait, wasn't the missing-nin hired by Gatou too?" asked Kenji.

"It was…complicated," shrugged Kakashi.

"Gatou betrayed him. He didn't want to pay shinobi rates," explained Tazuna.

Rikako appeared to be rather impressed. "I see, he was indeed an excellent businessman."

"And a ruthless murderer! He killed my father," cried Inari.

"So what happened to him?" asked Kenji.

"Zabuza, the missing-nin, ended up killing him before he died," said Tazuna.

"So your other genin team got to see a lot of action on their mission," pointed out Kenji enviously.

"I'm glad ours is just general surveillance," said Takeo, "I don't think we're ready to face a jounin." '_And Kakashi sensei looks a bit out of shape.'_

"So the prosperity of this country is seeped in blood, just like the others," Rikako said seriously, almost to herself, recalling the book she read on the ninja wars.

"Don't worry you guys. This mission will not be like the other one," Kakashi gave his new team a reassuring smile from underneath his mask, "we are not going to fight any shinobi. We're doing surveillance only, not protecting someone who happened to give us misleading information." He shot a look at Tazuna.

"So Kakashi sensei how are your former genin faring?" asked Tsunami.

"Well, uh, Naruto and Sakura are chuunin now."

"What about the other one?"

Kakashi shrugged noncommittedly.

"I heard he's a missing-nin!" Kenji chimed in.

Kakashi's brow furrowed as indicated only by the arch in his eyebrow. '_He really has no tact at all!'_

"I see…well, there's not much you can do once kids grow up, is there? They all have their own decisions to make and their own paths to follow," Tsunami said wisely.

"Tell big brother Naruto to come by for a visit soon!" added Inari.

"Yes, I'll do that," Kakashi said, relieved that the topic of Sasuke was dropped.

...-...-...-...-...-

_Author's Notes: Next up is the C mission which is completely new. In my original version I just put in "Case file closed due to confidentiality."_


	13. KKT 2,4 Surveillance

_Author's Notes: Technology in the Naruto world includes radios and phones. Gatou spoke on a phone to Zabuza in Wave Country, but there appears to be no phones in the shinobi villages. There are also motor vehicles but they're probably not allowed on paths to the hidden villages._

_**2.4 Surveillance**_

_Client: Matsui Joben_

_Age: 52_

_Occupation: Import-Export Manger of First Wave Produce Corporation_

_Target: Akane, nee Sato_

_Age: 22_

_Relationship: wife of client_

_Description: Brown eyes, platinum blond hair, medium length, 5'5" 110 pounds_

_Residence: 55 Peony Lane, Creek District, Wave Country_

_Mission: document any evidence of infidelity, determine the identity of adulterer_

_Details: Client and target have been married for two months. Client met target during a seminar on trade logistics in Wave Country. Target claims to be an orphan with no living relatives, originally from Earth Country. _

After dinner, the team mapped out the town based on the dossier the client provided - where the target lived, her favorite places to visit, and general landmarks. The client was not in town but he had sent a messenger over to Tazuna's house with details for the case.

Kakashi arranged the team into staggered 12 hour shifts based on personal considerations. Kenji wanted to go fishing with Inari who was up at dawn. Rikako didn't mind staying up all night because things were usually more peaceful so she could read her book "Exotic Animals of the Known World" which had a good section on poisonous snakes and bugs. Takeo could sleep anytime anywhere. And Kakashi wanted the late night hours, when it was more like they could gather evidence on the target (_he definitely wanted in on this kind of action!_). He'd also rather spend 6 hours with either Takeo or Rikako instead of Kenji. At least the other two were quiet and would normally leave him alone.

_Schedule:_

_6AM - 12PM Kakashi & Takeo_

_12PM - 6PM Kenji & Takeo _

_6PM - 12AM Kenji & Rikako_

_12AM - 6AM Rikako & Kakashi_

-…-…-…-…-…-

Shinobis were light sleepers, and though the night passed peacefully enough, Kakashi woke up in the middle of it with a start. There was something in the air…it just felt wrong, oppressive. But as he got up to investigate, the sensation disappeared. Still he left his room and walked along the corridors, up and down the stairs. Nothing, nothing at all. No strange sounds or smells or sights. '_Maybe it was just a dream. After all, it's just a C mission_…'

-…-…-…-…-…-

_**Day 1**_

Surprisingly, everyone was up for a very early breakfast. Not so much because of excitement, at least not for the majority of them (Kenji and Inari were the only ones who were ready to go), but rather from a restless night.

Tsunami looked the most worn out. "I don't know why, maybe it was because of all that talk about Gatou, but I had nightmares all night," she sighed.

No one mentioned any actual disturbance during the night, so Kakashi let it pass.

Each team member was equipped with a short range radio headset for communication. All but Kakashi wore their regular civilian clothes. He planned to use henge or camouflage when necessary to avoid detection. Kakashi and Takeo left first to do the initial surveillance and wiretap. Kenji had a few hours to spare before his shift so he accompanied Inari on his fishing boat, learning how to steer and how to handle a net.

Rikako, as usual, had a restless night. She had the late shift and should have rested more, but it was their first C mission and she was uncharacteristically excited. The team had had stakeout missions before, but they were of the find the lost pet type. People were more interesting. She struck out on her own, wandering through the streets, stores and buildings, covering all the possible routes of the target.

-…-…-…-…-

The client and his spouse occupied a sizable two story house, approximately 40 x 70 feet. The first floor included the kitchen, living room, dining room and a bathroom. The second floor had 3 bedrooms, study and bathroom. There was a cellar, no attic. The team had memorized its schematics.

Takeo settled on the roof of a building opposite where the target resided while Kakashi situated himself in a large tree in the backyard. Takeo was to cover the front of the house while Kakashi covered the back. With their binoculars, they could clearly see into the windows - only one bedroom had its shades drawn. They were waiting for the target to leave so they could install the bugs.

Via radio contact:

Takeo: "Target's awake, it's 10AM, nice schedule…"

Kakashi: "Ok, I can see her silhouette in the back here. She's going to the bathroom. Target's taking a shower." (Kakashi tried to see through the frosted bathroom window with his sharingan, but alas only the byakugan had that ability.)

Kakashi: "She's out of the bathroom…"

Takeo: "Target is leaving the house. It's 11AM, should I follow?"

Kakashi: "Yes, I'll handle the audio."

Takeo: "Copy."

Kakashi: "Remember to check in every fifteen minutes."

Takeo: "Right, over."

Takeo's notes: Target entered a sushi bar at 11:20, had her lunch (_crap I forgot mine!_) and left at noon. Entered a lingerie boutique at 12:15 till 12:40, but did not make a purchase. Entered a hair salon at 12:50. Target had her hair bleached and dyed. (_She's not a real blonde! I should get some lunch while she's in there but I don't feel like making the effort._) Left hair salon at 3:30. (_Why do women spend so much time and money on hair?)_ Target entered a woman's clothing boutique at 3:40, left at 4:00 without making a purchase. (_I'm really hungry, I hope Rikako brings food when she relieves me._) Target took a cab to the other side of town (_had to run hard to catch up!_) and spent the next two hours playing Pachinko. 6:00PM (_Thank the heavens! Rikako's here and she brought two bento boxes!) _

Kakashi's notes: House is kept immaculately. They must have someone coming in to clean. There are no signs of live-in servants. Proceeded to place bugs in every room and the telephones. Minimal knick-knacks or anything sentimental. Looks like a guy's house, no womanly touch. Strange, most women when moving into a guy's place would redecorate as soon as possible. _(They're always trying to change things!_) Searched target's bedroom _(Good thing I have this part of the mission!) _nothing unusual except for the lack of jewelry and clothes and other finery wealthy woman usually covet.

Now that the audio had been set up the team members monitored the house from the roof of the building across from the target.

Kenji's notes: Target returned home at 7:30PM. (_Geez I'm so bored, over seven hours of just monitoring an empty house. I'll do the stalking tomorrow and Takeo can monitor the house, that's more his thing._) No visitors except the mailman.

Rikako's notes: Target left gambling establishment at 6:42PM. Picked up take-out order of yakisoba at 7:12PM. Returned home at 7:31PM. Target stayed in all night. No calls no visitors. Target watched television until 11:48 before engaging in bathroom routine until 12:23AM whereupon target retired for the night.

-…-…-…-…-

_**Day 2**_

"Kakashi sensei," Rikako bowed in greeting as Kenji and Kakashi rotated positions at midnight. "Did you find anything interesting in the house?"

"Interesting? Yes…but nothing relative to the case. What I found interesting is the lack of personal items."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most women like to decorate and make a house their own. They've been married for two months and other than their bedroom, it looks like he's the only one living there."

"Maybe he's a control freak," she suggested.

"Maybe, but still it's strange. There's not much of her stuff in the bedroom either besides her clothes and a few pieces of jewelry that look recent."

"The file says she has no family and she's not from around here so it's not unusual for her to have so little. Maybe she's used to living simply."

"Maybe…" he shrugged. "Well, let's settle down for the night. Shouldn't be much activity now that she's gone to bed. Only one of us needs to monitor the house just in case. You've been here for a while so go ahead and take a break. Tsunami-san sent over some food." He handed her a bag.

"What about you? Have you eaten already?"

"Yep."

She gave him an appraising look. "Do you know of an animal called a camel? It has a hump where it can store fat. It can go without food or water for weeks. Do you practice a jutsu like that? We never see you eat or drink anything."

"Ha ha, that's an interesting animal," Kakashi said as he played with the audio equipment, purposely ignoring her and preventing any further conversation.

-…-…-…-…-…-

Takeo's notes: Target woke at 11AM. (_Her schedule gets better and better!_) 12PM target had leftover yakisoba for lunch and watched soap operas until 3PM when target finally left the house. No calls or visitors.

Kenji's notes: Followed target at 3:00PM. She walked across town to the gambling district. Played dice for two hours. Looks like she won about 20000 ryou. Did not speak or socialize with anyone other than house dice roller. Target then played slots for another hour before leaving. Did not appear to win anything from slots. Target bought an order of fried dumplings (_I tried that place, my parents' shop is better! They skimp on the meat_.) and an order of dumplings in soup noodles (_my favorite_!). Target returned home at 6:50PM. Received phone call at 7:00PM.

Rikako's notes: Phone conversation received at 7:01PM:

Caller: It's me.

Target: Yeah?

Caller: In three days.

Target: Right.

Caller was male, adult but not that old, likely to be between 20-40 years of age. Target stayed home and watched TV until 11:32PM. Retired at 12:07AM. No other calls or visitors.

_**Day 3**_

Rikako reviewed the mysterious phone call with her sensei. "So what do you think?" she asked him.

"I think something will happen in three days and we'll be able to finish the mission and go home."

"Yes, but do you think she's cheating on him? It wasn't a romantic call, but maybe they're being circumspect, or maybe it's more of a business arrangement."

"Well, it doesn't seem like she's after his money - she hasn't spent it to redecorate the house or to buy any jewelry. She dresses rather plainly though in the photographs with her husband she's dressed up. But maybe she plans to kill him and take everything." He shrugged. "We'll know soon enough. You guys will have to maintain radio contact and check in more often."

-...-...-...-...-

Takeo's notes: Target did not leave the house at all. No calls, no visitors.

Kenji's notes: Target received a call at 5:45PM, but did not answer the phone.

Rikako's notes: Suspiciously inactive today. Target watched TV until 10PM. Went to bed at 10:32.

_**Day 4**_

"Still doesn't seem like much is going on," the smaller boy commented to the larger one as they waited on the rooftop.

"Yeah, she hasn't been out of the house and it's already past 5:00. I guess no action till tomorrow. This mission has been so disappointing," muttered Kenji while fiddling futilely with the dials on the receiver.

"I think it's going great. It's better than following a lost cat around through the trees and bushes," his teammate replied.

"Yeah, you would think so, you lazy useless shit."

Takeo shrugged at the insult. He noticed his teammate only used foul language and called him names when the female member of their team wasn't around.

"Our first C mission and it's no better than a D mission, just longer. I wonder what the other genin teams are doing. I bet they have several C missions under their belt. Why did we end up with the worst sensei!"

"I like Kakashi sensei."

"That's because he's as lazy as you are! I bet the other sensei are better teachers, more enthusiastic, better motivators. You need a better motivator. I bet I could learn much more from another sensei. I wonder if we can switch..."

"I think he trains us pretty hard sometimes. And he's shown us lots of jutsus. It's just that we haven't been able to learn them at our level. Well, Rikako has learned some of them..."

"That's my point, he's a lousy teacher. He just shows us a bunch of seals and expects us to copy it. She can do it but we can't. He's just not a good teacher."

"No, we just lack the ability."

"No we don't, it's him! There must be exercises we can do to build up to those techniques."

"Well, he just believes in self-motivation, for us to work it out ourselves, no pressure."

"If we had a better sensei, I bet you'd be a lot stronger," Kenji insisted.

"I'm pretty happy with my progress."

"Well you shouldn't be. The chuunin exams are coming up."

"We're rookies, we're not ready for that anyway."

"We could be, at least Rikako and I are ready. You, I don't know, you're still weak."

"I may be weak, but you still can't get out of most of my traps, so who's the weakling?"

"Getting braver now with your smart mouth, aren't you? You little..."

"Hey look, she's moving…"

The target came out of the house dressed in a pair of cropped pants, and a tank top covered by a jacket.

"Get the camera, let's go," Kenji ordered while he turned on his headset to let Kakashi and Rikako know they were on the move.

They followed the target to a newly built three story building which housed the main office of her husband's company. She came out after only ten minutes. Then they followed her to the docks where she entered a warehouse. A minute later she came out. She was apparently waiting or looking for someone. There weren't many people around. It was Sunday and most of the dock workers had left early, leaving behind palettes of crates to be moved the next day.

The two genin decided to slip into the warehouse to hide and to see what the target was checking on. Kenji loosened a plank in the back. Takeo slipped in easily, but it was a squeeze for the larger boy. The crates were marked "Superior Preserved Whole Peaches from the Lands of Water."

"Does that label make any sense? How can you have Lands of Water? Isn't that an oxymoron?" Takeo pondered.

"Who cares? I'm hungry. How about we open a jar of these peaches? No one will notice one missing jar. They expect some stuff to disappear. It's all in the overhead."

"Umm, I don't think you should be doing that…" the other boy weakly protested.

Kenji took his kunai and forcibly opened one of the crates, which already had a loose top. He randomly took out a jar and twisted open the lid. From the syrupy liquid, his kunai pulled out a peach…but it wasn't a real peach, it was plastic and what he bit into was a piece of oddly twisted metal.

-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: Ok, I'm not really an action writer, but I promise action in the next post, conclusion of the C mission._


	14. KKT 2,5 The Missingnins of Hidden Rain

_**2.5 The Missing-nins of Hidden Rain Village**_

_'This is it,' _thought Hisame as she headed toward the pier. '_The shipment will arrive today…'_

It had been three years since the fiasco with Suien at Hidden Waterfall Village. '_What a selfish idiot, drank nearly all the Hero Water and still couldn't defeat a bunch of genin, pathetic!' _She and her Rain comrades started this venture soon afterwards. This part of it had taken months to plan. Of course she had to do all the work, all the thinking, the seduction, and sleeping with the old geezer. But she would get a 50 percent cut while Murasame and Kirisame would only get 25 percent each, a fair trade, considering.

The genocide of the Mist shinobi clans with advanced bloodlines left behind numerous shinobi artifacts. Special amulets and scrolls with the secrets of the clans that were hidden away, until now. It was her idea, her plan, after investigating a small lead about the missing-nin Zabuza who was rumored to have such a boy with him. That lead them to Water Country and after years of research, working in the black market, and digging up graves, they were able to locate several valuable items, long thought lost or destroyed. '_I wasn't the smartest Rain shinobi for nothing!'_ she thought, extremely pleased with herself.

But how to smuggle them out of Water Country and to the mainland? Smuggling was a difficult business. Some of these special items radiated such power, an elite shinobi would easily detect them. And she and her comrades were still missing-nin, wanted, in hiding, traveling with these items would put them at extra risk. And Fire Country patrolled its water borders diligently. Wave Country was the easiest access point. Then she hit upon her ultimate idea. Smuggling through legitimate means, via a legitimate company, via the normal trade routes. That required further research, and a better cover. She colored her hair, formerly brown, now a platinum blonde. She found a position assisting in coordinating an import-export logistic trade show in Wave Country where she met their mark. His shipping routes ran across the five great countries, perfect.

Meanwhile, Murasame brokered a deal with the Tsuchikage, and received an extremely good price, one that would set them up practically for life. After all, despite peace treaties and alliances, these countries were always looking to obtain an advantage. Peacetime was just another euphemism for a period of war preparations.

The rest of it was simple. Men were easily seduced, especially civilians. All lonely old men wanted a caring beautiful wife. Blinded by lust, he wouldn't question her background, or lack of it, at least not at first. She anticipated that he wouldn't trust her completely. That he would expect her to cheat on him, after all, that's what beautiful young women married to older men did, without fail. She didn't anticipate that his suspicions would surface so soon after their marriage.

There were people following her. '_Damn it, so close to the shipment date_.' She could sense their chakra and even saw a glimpse of them in her hand mirror. Inexperienced little shinobi who could not completely mute their chakra signatures, there were three of them, plus an older, more experienced one. She didn't need to sense their leader to know there was one. They were working in two man teams, rotating every six hours. But if everything went according to plan, they would not encounter their leader, and the young ones would not be a problem. The enemy would be deceived by their special codes. Three days meant two days. The unanswered phone call at 5:45pm let her know when the shipment was arriving.

Murasame and Kirisame were to hide the smaller artifacts within the shipment of peaches from Water Country. The scrolls that needed to stay dry would be in the sacks of rice. Then the artifacts had to be transferred from the boats to the trucks that were headed to Earth Country.

Hisame greeted her colleagues when they finally appeared. They had been checking on the trucks for tomorrow. She quickly filled them in on the little shinobi that had been following her for the past few days. "They're probably Leaf genin. Wave Country generally likes to hire Leaf shinobi. There're usually two around but be wary of more. Their leader has the late shift so we shouldn't be encountering him, but you never know. We might need to take these kids hostage if he appears."

Then she felt the tampering of the seal encapsulating one of the amulets. The seal was specially rendered to summon her and her colleagues if it were removed. Someone was ruining their plans and had to be dealt with immediately.

-…-…-…-…-…-

"Someone's coming! You idiot you got us in trouble!" groaned Takeo, looking around for someplace to hide as subtle footsteps approached.

"The way we came in…" Kenji grabbed the smaller boy and headed toward the back where they had loosened a board to enter.

But when they wiggled through they found a muscular man with a blue stripe on his nose wearing a Rain forehead protector standing over them.

"Little Leaf genin. I've been waiting for a chance to get back…" he started to say when Takeo threw a smoke bomb to hide their retreat while his teammate smashed the ground with his fists full of chakra, cracking the earth to send the enemy off balance.

"Get them!" He yelled angrily to his masked comrade.

A wall of earth dug from the ground rose up to block Kirisame's kunai. Murasame produced his water sword to easily slice through the earth wall. But the two genin were not behind the wall. In their place was a kunai with an explosive tag. The Rain missing-nin leaped behind a large crate which absorbed the damage. Splinters of wood flew all around, along with burnt potatoes.

"They can't have gone far. Don't let them escape or our years of hard work will be ruined!" yelled Hisame. "You kids think you're so smart? I knew you guys had me under surveillance since day one," said the pretty counterfeit blonde into a radio headset she just picked up.

The two genins were back in the warehouse. After all, it was likely the last place they would look for them. "Contact Kakashi-sensei!" Takeo whispered desperately. '_This is not fun at all!'_

"Right," his teammate agreed, "do it…"

"Me? Where's your radio?"

"I lost mine while we were escaping the first time. Where's yours?"

"I didn't bother to bring it. It's uncomfortable, Rikako's relieving me soon, and you made me carry the camera so…"

"You're so fucking lazy! I should…" Both boys fell silently as they sensed their enemy coming closer.

"We need to get the radio and contact them. How much longer before Rikako arrives?" whispered Takeo.

"She's not due for another 15 minutes. But I did contact her to let her know we were headed to the docks a while ago." '_If we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill him!'_

-…-…-…-…-…-

Rikako liked to be on time, all the time. What she liked even more than being punctual was to be early. It was not unusual for her to rendezvous with her teammates earlier than her appointed time. After Kenji had contacted her and Kakashi to let them know the target was on the move and headed toward the pier, she headed there as well.

As soon as the warehouses were within sight she felt something was wrong. There were other shinobi around. She could sense their chakra. But how many and why? Were they there to escort and protect shipments? A common mission, but…

She went into stealth mode, just to be sure… Then she saw the explosion. She did not run toward it, but instead approached cautiously, muting her chakra so that she could not be detected. The little kunoichi hid behind a pallet stacked with sacks of rice and saw two men wearing Rain forehead protectors talking to the target. She also observed her teammates slipping into one of the warehouses.

"Kakashi sensei," Rikako whispered urgently into her headset, "Kenji and Takeo are in trouble at the loading docks. Looks like something is going on with a couple of Rain shinobi. What should I do?"

"Do your best to distract them. I'll be there in less than 5 minutes," Kakashi replied as he ran out the door.

-…-…-…-…-

"They're probably in the warehouse where our stuff is. That's where I'd hide if I were them. The least likely place," Hisame surmised correctly. "Murasame go around the back. Kirisame you go in from the front. I'll cover you."

-…-…-…-…-

"What do we do now? Just wait?" Kenji deferred to the smaller boy who was normally calmer and a better thinker.

"Well, if we can't get the radio, there's not much we can do except wait and hide and run until help arrives or until they get tired of chasing us. We can't fight them one on one."

"Why not, we can try…"

"Well, maybe you can take on one of them, but I doubt if I can take the other one, and you can't take them both on. And there may be more of them. Our target might be a shinobi."

"Oh crap, I forgot about her."

"Well, there's one other thing we can try…:

-…-…-…-…-…-

Distract them? Two grown men? Maybe more Rain shinobi? They were genin and these guys were probably chuunin at their age, maybe even jounin. If they caught her, chances were she would be killed along with her teammates. But if she did nothing they would kill her teammates. These guys looked like they meant serious business. But why? What was going on? Why were they here at the docks? There must be something here that was important to them. Something in the warehouse?

_'Will Kakashi sensei arrive on time? Or will he be late again? Do I owe them anything? If they died could I live with it? Do they mean anything to me? No..yes...maybe...But I do need them because... I have to save them, or at least try. Kakashi sensei, please hurry for once!'_

The woman made a motion to the men to check the warehouse where her teammates were hidden.

In her second of hesitation, there was another explosion, this time from inside the warehouse.

-…-…-…-…-…-

When Kirisame entered the warehouse, the Leaf genin were nowhere to be seen. He entered cautiously and stepped over a poorly hidden trip wire. But he felt something under his foot and realized there was a row of camouflaged explosive tags just beyond the wire. He quickly leaped to safety behind the crates as the tags exploded, destroying the entire front of the warehouse, and several of the crates. "Damn! Our merchandise! Those fucking kids, they're dead for sure!" Kirisame began to sift through the debris to see if their contrabands were damaged.

Murasame now entered from a hole he cut with his water sword. "Where are they?" he asked his partner. But his own eyes saw another exit the Leaf genin made in the warehouse's side wall.

"I got them," Hisame yelled from outside. She had the two boys wrapped up with her water ropes. Hisame had been watching from the roof of the warehouse and saw the two Leaf genin trying to escape.

But trying to maintain and hold onto two water ropes was more than Hisame could handle. Kenji with his superior strength broke free and struck the earth, sending a crack toward the Rain missing-nin. Hisame faltered but Murasame leaped up and unleashed his special high tensile wire.

-…-…-…-…-

Rikako saw her teammates exit the warehouse and then get captured by Hisame. She raced toward the action as Kenji escaped and threw a smoke bomb to help hide him and kunai to block the wire coming from the shinobi with the blue stripe across his nose. They would have to regroup and return to get their other teammate who was now bound by the wire.

"What's happening?" Rikako asked her escaped teammate as they hid behind the palette stacked with rice sacks.

"I'm not sure, we found this," Kenji handed her the piece of oddly twisted metal he had found in the jar of peaches. "Do you have any idea what that is? I think they're trying to smuggle it."

Rikako felt an immense power resonating from the strange article. It had symbols engraved on the front and back and all around it. "It looks like some ancient artifact. It's illegal to import or export antiques without the permission of the originating country." She pocketed the object. "Kakashi sensei should be here soon, we just need to hold out."

"Come out now or your little friend here will lose his fingers one-by-one!" announced the woman they had been following. "There's no way you kids can win. We're shinobi with a lot more experience. Just return the amulet and we'll let you all go."

Kenji came out, holding the amulet in front of him. "Here it is, just let him go. We don't care what you're doing. This wasn't part of our mission."

"Oh? I guess my dear faithless husband hired you to follow me, suspecting some sordid affair. Well, I'm much more interested in money than men," she laughed.

The Rain-nin with the blue stripe across his nose was holding onto Takeo who was bound all around in wire. The woman grabbed the amulet from Kenji while her masked partner grabbed him behind. Kirisame found he had just grabbed a sack of rice while his partner found that the amulet in her hand was just an empty wallet.

Senbon, kunai, and shuriken rained down on them. The large Leaf genin jumped in with a swift kick to Murasame's head. The Rain-nin had to release his hostage to defend himself. Takeo fell to the ground, but he was still bound and unable to move. The wire cut into his body and blood pooled around him.

_'Where the hell are you Kakashi sensei?' _Rikako thought desperately as she nearly ran out of weapons to distract them.

Murasame and Kirisame converged on Kenji who tried to lead them away from his bound comrade. Rikako looped a rope of her own around Takeo, and pulled him to safety.

Then Murasame split into a water clone and now three figures circled around her teammate. Kenji ducked behind some crates and started throwing them at the three advancing forms. He managed to take out the water clone but the real shinobi caught him again with the ropes of water. This time they sent electric shocks through the ropes to bring him to his knees.

Rikako kept one hand on her rope and threw her remaining kunai at the water ropes. The kunai passed through harmlessly and the water reformed.

"Nice try kiddies, but three little Leaf genin are no match for three ex-Rain shinobi," laughed Hisame as she held Rikako from the back in a chokehold and poised a kunai to her throat.

_'Not yet, not yet, it can't end like this. I haven't reached my goal. I won't let it end like_ _this,'_ Rikako thought frantically. Her head and heart pounded and pounded and pounded.

-…-…-…-…-…-

Kakashi quickly concentrated chakra to his feet and he was off running at a frantic pace._ 'Damn it, why do things like this always happen to my teams? I'm never coming back to this country again! And things were going so well, this mission's been like a vacation, sigh. We weren't expecting anything till tomorrow… Please let me get there in time…'_

_-...-...-_

"…_Of course despite everything she is our only daughter. If anything happens to her during your watch we won't forgive you," Otori glared meaningfully at the younger man. Sharingan Kakashi or not, there were ways to deal with those like him. Medic-nin have very creative ways to cause pain or death, the doctor added to himself._

_'Well, it's not like you've forgiven me in the past,' Kakashi voicelessly responded._

_-...-...-_

He pushed up his forehead protector to expose his sharingan. '_I'm not taking any chances...'_

Nearing the docks he felt a strange oppressive sensation as if the air were statically charged. For just a second, he noticed an eerie green glow. Then there was the sound of a small explosion, or rather a series of explosions.

When Kakashi finally arrived on the scene, what he found was as much carnage as he had ever seen in his life. Three bodies with no heads. It seemed the heads had been blown off, but by a localized explosion. From the neck down, the bodies were left intact. Two males, one female, adults, not his genin. He sighed in relief. He quickly looked around for his genin and found the two boys bound and strung up to a loading crane by some special high tensile strength wire. Kakashi quickly cut them down with his kunai. He unbound the two unconscious boys and carefully laid them on the ground. His stomach clenched as he checked their vitals and bodies for injuries. They were bleeding from where the wire cut into their bodies, but otherwise they appeared to be unharmed.

Then he spotted the girl, obscured by several sacks of rice that had fallen off the palette to form a mini fortress around her. She was leaning against the palette, sitting curled up with her head bowed on her arms and her arms folded over her knees, trembling, covered in blood, brains, and other biological matter. The veteran shinobi quietly walked over to his genin. "It's all right now. It's over. You guys are all safe."

The girl looked up at him coldly. She had not been crying; there was no trace of tears. "You're late again Kakashi-sensei," was her only response.

"I came as soon as I could. I'm sorry I didn't make it in time, but it seems you guys did a fine job without me. What happened?"

Rikako stood up to her full height and reported officiously, "…I stuck a special hollow senbon, which contained an explosive tag, into her neck. It blew off her head. The blast attracted the attention of the other two away from Kenji and Takeo and they came after me…"

Though her report was given calmly, emotionlessly, he caught a tremor in her voice she could not hide. '_You never forget your first kill. It always stays with you. But in time it becomes too easy.'_

Her report sounded plausible enough, but something was not quite right. He knew her skills. She was not fast enough to take on 3 shinobi from Hidden Rain Village on her own. They were probably all chuunin level or greater for a job like this. Unless she suddenly became able to convert her chakra to speed. Could the boys confirm her report? Unlikely, they were probably unconscious toward the end. For now he had to accept her version. Kakashi thought back to Otori's words and the other incident from months ago and instinctively felt there was more to her story. But then she handed over the contraband. Kakashi peered at it curiously._ 'A chakra amplification amulet...I see...this explains it...'_

_-…-…-…-…-…-_

_Author's Notes: Hisame, Murasame, and Kirisame are from the second Naruto special. I like using minor chars when possible. Next up the chuunin exams._


	15. KKT 2,6 Nominations for Chuunin Exam

_Author's Notes: Thanks for reading this far. It's tough to attract readers for stories with non-canon chars (and no yaoi), so many thanks to those who leave a review. There is a method to my madness and you'll see why the story takes place when/as it does. After the chuunin exams the real story kicks in but I need to get thru the chuunin exams as part of building a character and her relationship with Kakashi (who is NOT going to get drunk to get laid)._

_**2.6 Nominations for the Chuunin Selection Exams**_

_It was my fault. I should have been with them._

_Obito: It was unexpected. _

_I should have expected the unexpected. I should have been prepared. I was lulled into complacency again. I'm such an idiot!_

_Obito: If only the sharingan were truly capable of foresight. Everyone has hindsight. If we all had foresight no one would make mistakes, but then no one would learn from their mistakes._

_Since when did you become so wise?_

_Obito: Since you started talking to yourself…_

It was regretful that his genin had to see death up close so soon. But Kakashi was baptized in blood by the time he was six. Sometimes it was better sooner than later. '_They will become stronger, more motivated this way,' _he rationalized to assuage his guilt. His genin recovered from their experience with seemingly little side effects, but each underwent a change after the C mission. Takeo finally made more of an effort to be stronger and was even willing to train with Kenji on their time off from official training sessions. Kenji took Kakashi more seriously, realizing his experience could account for something, and trained doubly hard (if that were possible) with the intent of learning to fight multiple opponents simultaneously. But the mission seemed to have the opposite effect on the girl. She was uncharacteristically inattentive during his lectures and disinterested in training and seemed to be constantly thinking of something else.

_'If she's having problems dealing with what happened on the mission, hopefully she'll talk to her parents about it. Unfortunately, there's no shinobi shrink on staff at the hospital...'_ And it was not his job. Kakashi was uncomfortable with such situations. He never knew quite what to say. '_If I were more like Iruka... He's like a father to Naruto. If it weren't for him, Naruto wouldn't be who he is now. If only I had been closer to Sasuke_...' But it just wasn't in his nature, and she already had a father. What she needed was a mentor to set an example of what it was to be a shinobi. A shinobi was a tool of the state, remaining stoic, viewing death as nothing more than an unpleasant part of the job description.

Kakashi thought back to his first genin Naruto and Sakura, who always wore their hearts on their sleeves. After the death of Zabuza and Haku, and the near death of Sasuke, they were visibly shaken but realized then what it meant to be a shinobi. Naruto, as resilient as ever, swore to follow his own path. But not everyone was that resilient.

To his relief, Rikako did not look to him for solace or advice but independently tried to resolve her own personal issues. But her curiosity remained the same. And now that she knew about his sharingan, so did the rest of the team. The questions were endless. Before, when they asked why he covered up his left eye, he would just shrug and say he thought he looked cooler that way. Now they demanded to know where he got it, did it have special abilities, why was it red with black dots, and more. Kakashi casually explained he picked it up on one of his missions years ago and it allowed him to see things in greater detail, which allowed him to copy his opponents' techniques. Luckily it was the latter part that interested his team and he did not have to defend his most precious memory.

-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Soon it was that time of year again. The chuunin selection exams were coming up and it was Konoha's turn to host again.

Kakashi thought about his current team and the perils they would face during the exams. Some participants came back with serious injuries, either physical or mental. But many participants did not come back alive. His team would be rookies amongst more experienced, more dangerous opponents. Were they ready? Should he nominate them? Last time around he didn't hesitate. Sasuke and Naruto were strong and could compensate for Sakura's weakness. He had been worried about her, but she had grown more than he thought. This team was strong enough, but Kakashi was now older and wiser and he was the one who was different, more cautious, after everything that had happened in the past.

He re-evaluated his team. They were a more defensive team than his other one. Or rather Takeo and Rikako were not the type to attack first, but to stay back and evaluate the situation. Those two were smart enough to recognize and run away from a death situation, dragging Kenji with them if they had to. That was important.

Takeo's traps and barriers were defensive techniques and worked well with Kenji's offensive techniques. And the girl was sort of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. She could set traps, though not as well as her teammate, and help with barrier techniques. And though she was not physically strong, she had a respectable number of ninjutsu techniques at hand. Though their execution was adequate, they were not that powerful. She had as much chakra as Sasuke, and as good chakra control as Sakura, so why wasn't she producing more powerful attacks? Kakashi felt she was holding back, and was training less enthusiastically since the C mission. _'Well, if she takes this exam, she can't hold back when everyone else is coming at them at full steam in the second exam. It would be a good lesson for all of them_.'

And they were able to hold off three experienced shinobi for nearly five minutes. Not bad at all. They were a well-rounded team so they should have a fair chance of making it to the finals, and a good chance of surviving, which was most important. Yes, he would nominate them without reservations.

-…-…-…-…-…-

The eagle made its seasonal flight to round up the shinobi sensei to meet and nominate their teams for the chuunin selection exams. This time around, Kakashi nominated his rookie genin team and so did Gai. The other rookie teams elected to pass.

It had been three years since rookies were nominated. Everyone paused to look at Iruka, waiting for a protest. '_Why is everyone looking at me?'_ He turned red and shifted his feet uncomfortably but said nothing. He had learned his lesson, the jounin sensei knew best.

Gai normally did not believe in nominating rookies. But after Kakashi's success with his first team, and knowing that Kakashi was likely to nominate his current team, Gai felt obligated to nominate his rookie team. Gai then said to Kakashi, "I normally wouldn't nominate rookies, but this year I have the top rookie genin and two other very strong genin, all with great individual techniques. They're even better as a team. They've already completed several C missions. And they have a super hard working attitude! All three should make chuunin on their first try! Ah, the exuberance of youth, keeps us young don't you think? So how's your team Kakashi?"

"Umm, were you speaking to me?" The gray haired jounin turned his head to give Gai his apathetic lazy-eyed look.

"Argghh! You did it to me again! Why do you insist on assuming an avant-garde attitude!" Gai grabbed his hair and continued his tirade while the other jounins finished their nominations, ignoring his usual crazy antics. '_My team will crush yours!' _Gai swore to himself.

-…-…-…-…-…-

"Sorry I'm late, but I have a surprise for you," Kakashi smiled down at his genin from the top of the gate. "I just nominated you all for the upcoming chuunin selection exams. Here are the applications. Drop them off on Friday by 3PM." He didn't pretend that it was an individual choice. Having someone on the team with an ex-shinobi parent really put a damper on his fun. The veteran shinobi jumped to the ground, which suddenly gave way to reveal a large spiked pit. But he had expertly somersaulted away to safer ground. His punishment for being twenty minutes late.

'Yes!" yelled the larger boy as he grabbed his form from Kakashi, "I've been waiting for this." He instantly forgave his sensei for being late yet again.

Rikako took her application silently and started reading it immediately, looking for the fine print.

Kakashi had to walk over and hand Takeo his application. He accepted it unenthusiastically. "I thought we'd be genin and stick to C and D missions for a while longer. That last C mission was just too much," he sighed.

"Oh, well," Kakashi scratched his head, "that really should've been a B or A mission. Umm, sorry about that."

"Excuse me, Kakashi sensei, but wasn't that mission reclassified as a B or A mission? If it was, shouldn't we be paid more?" asked the girl astutely.

"Yeah, well, problem with that…the client refused to pay extra. He said that the contract did not include such unexpected events and our actions were unauthorized." Kakashi shrugged. "Stuff like that happens every so often. Not much you can do about it. We were lucky we weren't charged with destruction of the docks and ruining the shipments of peaches, rice and potatoes."

The team had recovered the other illegal artifacts hidden in the importations with Pakkun's help, but they were returned to Water Country in exchange for goodwill, no reward.

Kenji frowned and suggested, "How about we go rough up the client? Get him to cough up some more cash."

"Only missing-nin work that way. Though it's very tempting…we're supposed to be…honorable, right?" The girl laughed for perhaps the first time since the horror of the last mission.

"Yes, well, if you guys pass this, you will be assigned and paid for B missions."

"'If' is such a pessimistic word. 'When' we pass is much more encouraging," Rikako now smiled confidently as the light returned to her dark eyes.

-…-…-…-…-…-


	16. KKT 2,7 Chuunin Exam 1

_Author's Notes: Please leave a review especially if you think something could be better. I'm always modifying my stories and one of the reasons this is being rewritten is because of a reviewer's criticism._

_**2.7 The Chuunin Exam 1**_

Rikako looked around the room and counted the number of genins and then she calculated the number of teams_. 'Strange, a number not divisible by three, a remainder of two. Did I miscount?' _She counted again, but it was the same. '_Well, someone must be late or sick.' _There were a fair number of non-Leaf teams and teams with much older members. One guy with a mustache and glasses looked to be over forty. '_A genin at forty? How pathetic! I'd throw myself off a cliff if I were so untalented…'_

-…-…-…-…-

Ibiki was feeling…lazy this year. It had been 3 years and 6 exams since he had been an examiner. Countries and examiners were rotated so that the same genins retaking the tests would not have an advantage. He didn't have time to come up with anything new, so he decided to reuse the test strategy from three years ago, but with some different questions. Torturing shinobi wannabes was more fun than real interrogations. He liked to watch their confused faces as they squirmed and sweated_. 'Nothing like the feeling of control and power.' _

He gave his standard speech in his most terrorizing voice. "Each of you starts with 10 points… The test has 10 questions, each worth one point… It's a deduction based test which means 1 point will be deducted for each wrong answer… The pass/fail decision is determined by your team's total points… If an examiner determines someone cheated, each action is a 2 point deduction…If anyone gets a zero, the entire team will fail…Start!"

Rikako looked at the questions. '_They're hard, but not impossible if you have a good grasp of higher mathematics, good language skills, and biology-physics-chemistry knowledge. I can figure out most of these questions with some effort. Takeo should be able to answer 1 or 2 if he tries hard enough, that's a big 'if.' But math and analytical thinking are Kenji's weaknesses. There is a good chance that he won't be able to answer any of them, and if he can't, we all fail. And yet, something is fishy...the questions are hard, way too hard, I doubt if most jounin can answer them! And allowing us to cheat up to a maximum of five times doesn't make any sense at all…'_

Takeo looked at the questions. '_Crap, these are hard. I can answer maybe a few of them, but all I need is to answer 1 or 2 and that should be enough, Rikako should get most of them. If we don't make the cut, it will be Kenji's fault and not mine. There's always next year, and the year after that, and…'_

Kenji felt a headache coming on, as if a low pressure system were rolling in. The more he looked at the questions, the worse his headache became. '_I just need to answer one_.' He scanned the questions. '_A cipher, shit I suck at those…next, a math problem with lots of variables requiring simultaneous equations and trigonometry… fuck, even worse… next, a foreign language? What the fuck? Next, a chemistry question…don't know shit about atoms… next...' _Finally he picked the one that looked the easiest_. 'A logic problem. I hate those but it might be doable.' _

A few weeks ago, Rikako was reading "Shinobi Brain Teasers" while waiting for their sensei. Kenji took a quick look at her book and complained about logic questions being impossible. "Actually, they're quite easy. There's no real math or numbers involved. And they're all basically the same. You just need to prepare a grid and fill it in..."

_'A grid...I can do that_...' he read the problem slowly again and again:

For six shinobis, determine what village each is from, their favorite weapon, and best jutsu.

Shinobis: Shinobi A, Shinobi B, Shinobi C, Shinobi D, Shinobi E, Shinobi F

Villages: Leaf, Sand, Sound, Mist, Rain, Grass

Favorite Weapons: Kunai, Shuriken, Senbon, Explosive notes, Sword, Nunchucks

Best jutsu: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Hypnosis, Taijutsu, Water walking

Shinobi A is from Grass and dislikes using Kawarimi and Taijutsu.

The shinobi from Sound is best at Water walking, and his favorite weapon is not a Kunai or a Shuriken.

Shinobi C is not from Mist and Shinobi F doesn't like Taijutsu.

The shinobi good in Taijutsu is not from Sand.

The shinobi whose favorite weapon is Senbon is not good in using Bunshin.

Shinobi B's favorite weapon is the Explosive notes. He is not from Rain and he doesn't like Henge or Water walking.

The Nunchucks is the favorite of the shinobi who is good at Kawarimi, but this shinobi is not from Sand.

Shinobi E does not use a Sword.

The Mist shinobi's favorite weapon is Senbon. He is not Shinobi D or Shinobi E.

Shinobi D uses Hypnosis. He doesn't use a Sword or Shuriken.

_'Damn, Takeo and Rikako can answer these types of questions, but I refuse to be the weakest link!' _His headache was getting worse, but he started to fill in the grid. It took him nearly the entire allotted time, but at the end he was fairly confident it was all correct.

Ibiki made his usual threat before giving out the final question. "…Whoever decides to take the tenth question must answer it correctly to pass. Failure means staying a genin forever!"_ 'I just love this part! Ha! Those shocked faces, classic!'_

Rikako was confident she could handle the final question, which she suspected was not really necessary.

Takeo was not confident, but he figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. If he had to be a genin forever, that was fine. It just wasn't meant to be.

Kenji was frantic, he was barely able to answer one question. He didn't want to stay a genin forever and disappoint his family and his teammates. His headache came back. Kenji took a deep breath and tried to calm down. '_What did Rikako always say? "Nothing is as it appears, everything is a test." I thought she was just plain paranoid! It doesn't make sense, why give 9 questions and then make everything depend on the 10th?'_ The answer came to him like a light switch suddenly turning on. The challenge wasn't the question, the challenge was the acceptance of the challenge!

-...-...-...-...-...-

_'Ah, another good pruning_,' Ibiki thought in satisfaction as he picked up the papers. There were some with unintelligible scribbles, some with several correct answers, many with just one or two correct answers, several stained with sweat, and one neatly written completely filled out with minimal erasing and… completely correct. '_Impossible! No one has ever answered all nine questions correctly before without resorting to cheating. Otori Rikako…is she the daughter of the old Anbu medic? I knew her father when I was just starting out on the Anbu. And people think I'm scary, they've never met the Mad Medic.' _

He had noticed she was one of the few whose eyes never wavered from her paper, a look of total concentration. The last genin who came close to a perfect score without cheating was Haruno Sakura, also on Kakashi's team. She had missed one question written in a foreign language. (The Yamanaka girl had used her clan's mind powers to copy her answers and give them to her teammates. It was obvious from the way their answers were exactly the same. He could always tell who actually answered the questions and who used espionage skills.) Ibiki had made the new questions just a bit harder because of that. Even though the questions ultimately didn't count, it made him feel superior_. 'Not that it's really impossible, but to answer all the questions in such a short amount of time is truly impressive._ _She's one to watch for…just hope she has a better temper than her father…worse bedside manner ever…'_

-...-...-...-...-...-

_Author's Notes: Ok, I didn't have a particularly imaginative idea to pass the first exam so I tried to make up for it with the logic problem. Try it, it's fun! I'll post the answer in a separate chapter. If Ibiki's comments (and later comments coming up) make my OC seem like a Mary Sue, just wait till part 4 when parts of the story are retold from Rikako's POV. _


	17. KKT Answer to Logic Problem

Shinobi - Village - Fav Weapon - Best Jutsu 

A - Grass -Shuriken -Bunshin

B - Leaf - Explosive Notes - Taijutsu

C - Sound - Sword - Waterwalking

D - Sand - Kunai - Hypnosis

E - Rain - Nunchucks - Kawarimi

F - Mist - Senbon - Henge


	18. KKT 2,8 Chuunin Exam 2

_**2.8 The Chuunin Exam 2**_

The next day, the genin who passed the first exam gathered by the Forest of Death for the second exam. '_Not too many left this year_,' Anko thought in satisfaction. '_Let's see, I'm pretty sure we've restocked the leeches, bugs, and predators...threw in a few new exotic snake species, my little pets…'_

She proceeded to explain the rules of the second exam. "Each team gets a scroll, either heaven or earth. You must get the complementary scroll from another team and reach the tower in the middle of the forest... Each team will be assigned an entry gate position, 10 km away from the tower. You have 5 days to reach the tower with all your team members alive… Anything goes, so be prepared… As for food, live off the land, just watch out for the poisonous plants and bugs, and some big predators… Sign these consent forms and exchange them for your scroll at that tent..."

As the other genins reviewed the consent forms, Rikako thought furiously and looked at all the teams around them.

"Some of these guys look very dangerous," Takeo remarked as a guy with scars, bandages, and a big sword walked by.

"We'll just have to fight back twice as hard," Kenji replied confidently.

Their teammate shook her head. "Fighting should always be the last resort. There's usually another way." She dropped her voice and whispered to Takeo, "Can you make a couple of decoy scrolls good enough to fool someone?"

Takeo nodded, "Yes, the scrolls we have for our notes are the same color. I just need some paper, ink, and a brush to duplicate the calligraphy." She nodded back, and he quickly ran off. Rikako now turned her attention to her remaining teammate. "Go around and get a feel for the guys from other villages," she ordered. He nodded and moved to obey. Then she looked around and saw her old classmate, Shigeru, the boy whose hand she hurt during the first week at the academy. She walked over to the tall towheaded boy while formulating her plan.

"Shigeru-kun," she smiled and bowed, "I am glad to see that you have made it this far."

"Rikako-chan," he smiled back at her, "I see spending an extra year at the academy hasn't deterred you at all. How have you been?"

"Good, good, we can catch up later. Right now I have a proposition for you. How would you like a 95 percent guarantee of passing the second exam?"

"95 percent? That's very good. What do you have in mind? It's not cheating is it? Even if it is, I'll consider it. I hear many genins don't make it out alive."

"I propose an alliance."

"An alliance?"

"Yes, the other teams will be expecting one on one fights. If we band together, with another team, there will be 9 against 3 during a fight. The odds will be vastly in our favor."

"Great idea Rikako-chan! I knew it would be coming from you. You were always the thinker. We could have been on the same team together if you..."

"We need another team. There's Gai's rookie genin team. I know them. They're strong, but cocky. They won't feel they need help. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Hmm, Asuma's team is pretty cool. You remember Tomoyo, Seto, and Takeshi?"

"Yes, good choice," she nodded.

"All right, let me just discuss this with my teammates first. I'm sure they'll agree..."

But the other team and Shigeru's teammates had their reservations.

"What if we get into a fight on our way to the rendezvous point? Our entrances may be far apart," pointed out Seto, a thin boy with brown hair that nearly covered his eyes.

"Good point, in that case, if you die then we won't wait for you. If you win and get the scroll that you need, then you're no longer under any obligation. Just remember that even if you get the scroll you need, you still have to make it to the tower and there's always safety in numbers."

"Isn't this exam a test of our survival skills? Won't we be losing the benefit of experience if we pass this easily?" asked Touya, boy with flame red hair who thought, '_Know-it-all-bitch, I remember you from the academy…'_

"The second exam is just an obstacle to the third exam. You can always go camping some other time." Rikako was trying hard not to be caustic but she was losing her patience. "Besides, you'll see enough action even if we proceed with our plan. These traps may only delay the enemy so there will still be fighting." '_Fight all you want you blood thirsty bastards, just agree already, we're wasting time!'_

Finally, the teams approved of the strategy. After all, fighting and testing your strength was nice, but the whole point was to get to the finals where they could really show off their skills. And by working together in a temporary alliance they would be familiar with each other's strengths and weaknesses when the finals came. The three teams received their starting positions and planned their rendezvous.

On the way to their gate Kenji asked, "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"Sure enough, if they try to betray us, we'll give them a counterfeit scroll," replied the little kunoichi confidently.

-…-…-…-…-…-

At the rendezvous -

"We'll mix up our teams, one member from each team. Team A will monitor trap A, Team B will monitor Trap B, Team C acts as the scouts, decoys and messengers. I'll be on Team C, with the fastest runners from each of the other teams. Okay, that's Takeshi, and Seto. At least one strongest member at each trap. Shigeru you're with Takeo and Anzu at trap A. Tomoyo, Kenji, and Touya at Trap B. There are 15 teams spread out over 44 gates, if they're spread out evenly, that's an area of about 3 gates per team. They will all be headed toward the tower, but if we put our traps too close to the tower, they will be more wary. Instead, we can set up an ambush and lure them to the traps. They won't be expecting a 3 on 1 fight."

Before dawn, Rikako and her mixed team began to scout for potential victims. They had already used half a day getting to the rendezvous point and working on the traps. There were likely teams who already had a set of scrolls. "Remember the plan, I'll show myself and they'll follow me. You guys cover me. If they need a scroll they'll follow. Of course there might be some teams who will follow us just to fight even if they already have two scrolls. We have to be more careful with guys like that."

They soon spied a Rain team. Rikako acted as the bait, showing herself to them, then running away. As expected, the enemy followed, but they were suspicious of an ambush and traps.

First it appeared their prey disappeared from sight. Confused, the rain genins stopped and carefully approached. "Trip wire," observed one, "a trap." But right before they stepped over the trip wire, they noticed an almost invisible chakra thread. Only the morning mist had rendered it barely visible. "Another trap, let's pass this area via the trees." But as they neared the trees, hidden chakra threads under the foliage activated and roots suddenly emerged from the ground, entangling and ensnaring the three. They tried to cut away the hardened roots, but then they had to block the kunai and shuriken thrown at them from above. The roots wound their way around their bodies and constricted until they passed out.

"Whew," Takeo muttered, "I was hoping they'd trip the wire. That took a lot more chakra."

"But it worked, didn't it?" said Anzu, a tall well developed girl who was able to control plants with chakra.

Takeo had designed the traps with input from the other genins. Each trap was backed up by another trap and another plan. When the Rain genin avoided the trip wire and chakra thread which activated physical traps, they went to plan B. The tingle in the chakra threads camouflaged by the foliage let them know where the enemies were and where to force chakra into the ground. Anzu was then able to manipulate the roots to great effect with Takeo's chakra added to hers. The third member of their party threw the kunai and shuriken to prevent the enemy from escaping.

-…-…-…-…-

The ambushes worked smoothly and within the day the three teams had all the necessary scrolls and hurried together toward the tower. Rikako and Anzu scouted ahead for enemy traps and ambushes.

"How lucky is that, 2 teams, and exactly the scrolls we needed! You're the best Rikako-chan!" Kenji gushed as the nine genins rushed toward the tower, leaping from tree to tree.

"Yeah, and no one got hurt!" Takeo was happy because he didn't have to fight.

"That was too easy. I sort of wished we had an all out fight," laughed the larger boy.

"I wonder if anyone has done this before," mused Takeo who was trying hard to keep up with his overly enthusiastic teammate.

"Probably not, we're all supposed to be competitors. But Rikako-chan has always been good at analyzing problems. I'm glad she approached us," said Shigeru, "or we could've ended up like Gai's team!"

Gai's team already had 2 scrolls but wanted an extra scroll for insurance. They were strong, and the alliance team had to resort to all the back up plans, but the exploding traps were also infused with paralysis gas, and in a 3 to 1 fight, they had little chance and were finally overcome.

-…-…-…-…-…-

The exam proctors were watching the teams via the cameras installed throughout the tower. They noted that Kakashi's, Asuma's, and Kurenai's teams had made it to the tower at the exact same time.

"Strange, it seems they've been working together," said Kotetsu while scratching his spikey black hair.

"Yes, I saw Otori Rikako approach the other 2 teams before they started. She must have made an alliance with them. Is that legal?" asked Izumo, his ever present partner.

Kotetsu shrugged, "Well, there's nothing in the rules against it as far as I know."

"This isn't fair to the stronger teams. Gai's team was the favorite. Not all these genin deserve to have a chance at being chuunin," Izumo shook his head in disapproval.

"Well, sometimes being smart and lucky is better than being strong. It'll be interesting to see how they do in the finals..."

-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: I like Gai but since I am a Kakashi fan, Gai will always lose to Kakashi! Please forgive my unoriginal naming of minor OCs, they're just named after whatever anime chars I can think of. Only my main OCs get more consideration. One of the original ideas for this story was how to pass the bells test and chuunin exams. Since I couldn't reuse canon characters, I developed my own characters and it snowballed from there._


	19. KKT 2,9 Battle Training

_**2.9 Battle Training**_

There were originally 34 teams taking the first chuunin exam. Then 15 teams taking the second chuunin exam. Now there were only 4 teams taking the final exam, the 3 Leaf alliance teams and 1 team from Thunder Country's Hidden Cloud Village. After the match-ups, they were given a month to prepare. Rikako had drawn a Cloud shinobi. She was concerned as she was hoping for one of the other Leaf genin. She knew them and their strengths and weaknesses. The Cloud shinobi were foreign to her.

Kakashi informed her that he'd be training with the boys. "Rikako-chan, I'm sorry I won't be training you for the finals. As you know, Takeo and Kenji need more help. Their strengths and weaknesses are complementary so it makes sense for them to train together. I've spoken to your father. He can train you just as well. You're already very strong, I know you'll do fine."

Rikako was not happy with this arrangement, but she knew protesting would solve nothing. She bowed deeply while saying "Well, Kakashi sensei, although I am sincerely disappointed, I'm sure your judgment is sound. I hope to meet your expectations and will train diligently with my father on a regular basis. I'm sure this will work out for the best. I will be able to spend more time training with my father since we live together and I won't have to worry about him being late."

Kakashi thought, 'S_he sure likes to take digs at me, but I can't blame her for being upset. It does seem like I'm neglecting her, but she doesn't need anyone to train her. She just needs a bunch of scrolls with high level jutsus and she can figure out what to do by herself. Maybe her father will be a better motivator.'_

_-…-…-…-…-_

After a few days of testing her abilities, her father brought out the summoning contract. They had been training in their backyard, despite Rika's protests that they were ruining her garden. "I wasn't sure you'd be ready for this, but I'm proud of you having passed the first two exams so easily. The third part will be the true test of your abilities. You may need an Ace up your sleeve." He bit his thumb and summoned a giant eagle which flapped its wings and let out a loud shriek, much to Rika's horror (she stayed inside the house). "You need to concentrate your chakra when you do this. The more chakra, the larger the bird. To vary the type of bird, use different chakra ratios."

Rikako was delighted. '_This is something different than a regular justsu, but biting your thumb all the time, is just too…unsanitary, gross and painful.'_ Instead she cut her palm with a kunai. '_Mental note, need something like a ring or bracelet with a sharp edge, kunais are also unsanitary…maybe I should carry around a pack of lancets…' _She signed her name in blood as was required, and pressed her palm onto the scroll, leaving behind a bloody print to seal the contract.

She had seen her father use birds to deliver messages and medicine though she had never seen him perform the summoning before. He did not want her to be a shinobi and only grudgingly taught her a few jutsus when she was in the academy. But now he seemed to warm up to the idea and was actually proud of his talented little daughter.

On her first try she summoned a lovely green macaw. By the end of the month she was able to summon an eagle about human size. Still not one large enough to carry her weight, but her father was nevertheless impressed.

_'Birds are so much better than smelly dogs or slimy slugs or scary snakes or ugly toads_,' she thought. '_Birds are good for transportation, aerial surveillance, and they have very sharp eyes.' _Rikako preferred to summon smaller birds like canaries, nightingales and parrots just to listen to their songs and to converse. Once, while in a particularly bad mood, she summoned a large vulture with evil eyes that horrified her father and nearly gave her mom an aneurysm.

Otori also taught her weapons and target training, and techniques to improve her taijutsu. Of her skills, he noted they could use the most improvement. '_What has Kakashi been doing with his genin? She has the potential to be much better than this! That lazy slacker…At least her ninjustsu is quite good and she even knows a bit of genjutsu…'_

"Why don't you try this…this… or this…" Otori took out weapon after weapon from his collection.

His daughter methodically evaluated each one. "I don't like swords. They're heavy and clumsy... I don't like projectile weapons where you can run out of ammunition… These staffs are too long... Nunchucks take too much dexterity to use accurately…" But amongst his collection she finally found her favorite weapon – a metallic telescoping staff that converted to a double headed spear and which she could twirl like a baton. It retracted to a short rod barely two feet in length that could be easily strapped on her back or at her waist. At full extension, it was nearly six feet. Despite its size, it was no heavier than a regular sword.

"Sometimes seals and justu are not enough. You should always have a physical weapon ready. Shuriken don't normally kill. Kunai can, but they're usually thrown or for very close combat. As a woman, you'll be at a disadvantage since you don't have the reach or the strength of a man. You can use your chakra to extend your reach and strength, but there will be times when you've depleted your chakra. This will help even things."

"I don't plan to kill anyone, and I don't want to." She shuddered as the blood and brain splattered results of the C mission came to mind.

"Sometimes you have to." '_Unfortunate, but unavoidable, she really should just be a village doctor.'_

"I've been working with the senbon, like the needles you used for acupuncture. I'm pretty good now. I can paralyze my opponents instead of killing them."

"Well, those require a lot more accuracy. This staff can be used in defense as well." He twirled the staff quickly and its circular motion acted like a shield.

Rikako was visibly impressed and realized she needed the staff, not so much for attack but for defense. With it she was able to deflect shuriken, kunai, and other physical weapons. By forcing chakra into it, she was able to deflect some ninjutsu attacks as well. But her father was right. Her petite size meant she had a shorter reach than average. She found the staff's changeable length to be an important asset.

She also found a few other interesting items in a box long hidden away in storage: a bracelet that hid a spool of strong wire, a ring which opened to dispense poison, earrings that were actually flash bombs. There were all sorts of jewelry and accessories normally meant for kunoichi. '_I wonder if there's something about dear old dad I should know…'_


	20. KKT 2,10 Chuunin Exam 3

_**2.10 The Chuunin Exam 3**_

A month later it was time for the finals. Kakashi arrived late as usual to the stadium, but in time before his genin's turns. He made the mistake of entering the same area as Gai and the further mistake of nodding in greeting. Gai ran over with his usual alacrity.

"I see you finally made it, rival Kakashi. I'll be keeping my eyes on your genin, to see what sort of tricks you taught them to defeat my team in the last exam."

"Hmm, tricks? I didn't teach them any particular tricks to use against your team."

"You must have! My genin said your team must have used kage bunshin. There were more than 3 of them! You know that's a forbidden jutsu. Just because Naruto learned it…"

"It wasn't kage bunshin. It was another trick my team came up with by themselves. I told you they would leave your team in the dust."

"No you didn't! You didn't say anything this time! That was your other genin team!"

"Oh? Is that right? Well, I guess I forgot to say it again," Kakashi shrugged.

"You must tell me the trick! My team needs to get stronger!"

"You know a shinobi can't reveal his secrets." Kakashi learned during his training with the boys how they passed the second exam. He was impressed but disappointed at the same time. An alliance was a smart idea. After all, to be a lord or a kage you need to be able to form alliances, to be able to read people and decided whom to trust or not to trust. But he had wanted to test their strength.

Gai gave him a look somewhere between desperation and wanting to kill him. Kakashi sighed, "I don't know the particulars, but if you really want to know, maybe you can get it out of my genin." '_There, that will keep him off my back_.'

Any further discussion was interrupted by the announcement for the next fight.

-…-…-…-

Rikako's battle outfit consisted of her usual wear, a black long sleeve T-shirt, but now covered by a short brown kimono with green trim, handcrafted by her mother to her specifications for altered sleeves. The right sleeve was fitted like a normal loose shirt sleeve while the left was longer and wider, like a kimono sleeve, just enough to hide her hands while performing seals. _'No one will see or copy my seals this way,' _she reasoned. '_If Kakashi-sensei has an eye like that, there might be others with similar abilities.'_

The Cloud shinobi wore bandages and a gauze veil covering his face and was dressed in loose fitting light gray robes. Rikako waited calmly for him to make the first move after the examiner signaled the start of their match. His first jutsu was a cloud cover, and the field became obscured. Alarmed at the loss of visibility, the little kunoichi threw a smoke bomb to hide her retreat behind the trees.

The Cloud shinobi laughed, the usual villainous laugh, and said, "There's nowhere to run and I don't need to see you to attack you." He started a complex seal and the entire field became statically charged, as if a thunder cloud came down from the heavens. Lightning started to crackle all around. Even Genma decided to take cover.

From a distance, Rikako attacked with a number of fireballs, hoping to disrupt his seal sequence, but the cloud shinobi avoided them easily and finished his seals. Then she appeared suddenly on top of him sending out more fireballs, but he countered with a lightning bolt, striking her directly. The figure crumbled to dust. It was an earth clone!

The Cloud shinobi laughed derisively. "Hiding and attacking with clones are signs of cowardice and weakness. Soon my chakra cloud will consume your chakra."

_'He sure likes to talk, overconfidence is always a weakness,'_ Rikako thought as she started several seal sequences, one after another...

She attacked the cloud shinobi directly with her staff at full extension. The cloud shinobi smiled. _'That staff is metallic. She's not very smart. That weapon will attract the lightning and she'll end up getting fried_.' He sent a lightning bolt at her while she was in mid-air. She twisted her body to avoid the attack, but fell to the ground. The Cloud shinobi quickly sent another lightning bolt, a stronger one. '_Time to end this,' _he thought. This time, it hit her staff directly. The figure holding it crumbled to dust, but the staff was left standing in the ground. Suddenly, the Cloud shinobi started to convulse and he clutched at his heart.

-...-

"…_the Cloud shinobi use lightning attacks, which are very strong, but hard to control, and can backfire on the user since there are conductive materials all around us…" her father had advised. _

_Rikako sequentially performed the seals for an earth runnel and water stream. She attacked the cloud shinobi directly to draw his attention away from the approaching water. She avoided his first lightning attack, stuck the staff into the ground where the runnel started, and then used the replacement technique and earth clone. The second lightning bolt hit her staff but she was already gone behind the trees, protected by an earth tomb. The electricity was drawn into the staff down to the water and conducted over to the Cloud shinobi. Although he was immune to the statically charged chakra cloud, he was not immune to the effects of thousands of volts of electricity._

_-...-_

Rikako soon sensed the fight was over and came out from her earth tomb. The chakra cloud was already dissipating. The Cloud shinobi was on the ground writhing in pain. She quickly ran over and checked his pulse and pupils. His heart was in arrhythmia and was going into cardiac arrest. "Medic!" she cried and performed a stasis seal to stabilize his condition. Then she placed her hand on his chest, sending regular jolts of chakra to his heart, trying to force a regular rhythm.

"Very nicely done, rival Kakashi, I see you have a smart one on your team. Still, her speed could be better. If she were on my team…"

"Hmm? Did you just say something?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly even though he heard everything Gai just said.

"You...You! You're right next to me! How could you possibly not hear what I said? I know you purposely pursue such revolutionary attitudes to thwart me!

Kakashi shrugged as he watched the Cloud genin being carried off the field by the medics. The fight was obviously over and the petite kunoichi was declared the winner. '_That was good, but still not her true strength. Well, we'll see what happens in the next round.'_

_-…-…-…-…-_

The Hokage and other judges discussed the performance of Kakashi's little genin. _She's wary and patient. Waits for her opponent to make the first move. You can feel her gauging her opponent, testing him, discovering his strengths and weakness, before developing a strategy. She takes in consideration her surroundings. She has good offense and defense tactics. A good range of jutsus, though not a lot of power. She's persistent and determined, yet shows concern for a fallen enemy._

Pass!

-…-…-End of Part 2-...-…-

_Author's Notes: There would be another 3 rounds in the finals, which I won't be writing anytime soon if ever (takes me forever to come up with a decent idea for an action scene). Suffice to say that Rikako passes but was not the final winner. I'm thinking she makes it into the quarter finals and that's it. Kishimoto is a GOD when it comes to action, strategy and techniques! (All bow to Kishimoto...)_

_Next up Part 3: An Old Shinobi Adage - this is where the "romance" comes in and my favorite part to write. Stay tuned for plot twists!_


	21. KKT 3,1 The Accident

_Author's Notes: I noticed that though I put up 2 chapters last time, the last one received twice as many hits as the next to last chapter. Please note that I sometimes put up more than 1 chapter at a time, depending on length._

_Writing a believable romance for Kakashi is very difficult. I had to take a couple of liberties here, but I think it's more believable than having a drunk angsty Kakashi. I don't like stories where Kakashi has to be drunk to have feelings/hit on Iruka/get any action. This is about 4-5 years later. Kakashi is now about 35, nearing the age of people who have mid-life crises and not everything is as it appears as you'll find out later in Parts 4 and 5._

**KAKASHI AND THE KUNOICHI FROM THUNDER COUNTRY**

**PART III - An Old Shinobi Adage**

_**3.1 The Accident**_

The sun had just set and most people had already returned home for their last meal of the day. The bustling streets and stores of Konoha were now mostly empty. It was a slow, quiet time, but yet a dark form was seen leaping frantically from roof to roof, carrying a heavy burden on its back.

The masked figure leaped down from the roof of a house larger than its neighbors, and landed at its doorstep. The gray haired jounin immediately pounded on the door, "Emergency!" he cried out, tempted to just blow the door open with any number of his many jutsus.

But rather than the gruff old man he expected, a pretty young woman answered the door. She took a quick look at the boy slung over Kakashi's shoulders. "My parents will be out late, but I can help. Follow me." She directed them to the examination room. While Kakashi placed the boy gingerly on the gurney, she prepared the equipment. "What happened?" she asked curtly.

"We were training nearby. Doing chakra control exercises. He fell from the top branch of a tree. I caught him before he hit the ground, but he broke through many branches…"

She quickly connected an IV to the boy's arm and took his pulse and checked his pupils. "I have to perform surgery. You'll have to help me. Go wash up." Her tone was commanding, but shaky, betraying her nervousness.

He noted that she had just stepped out of the shower or bath. She appeared to be wearing only a T-shirt and underwear beneath a short thin robe embroidered with flowers. There had been no time to change. Her hair was down and unbound, the first time he had ever seen it that way. The dark mass flowed just past her shoulders. Its dampness was apparent as it clung to her head and neck.

As she worked, Kakashi realized she was no longer a girl. He hadn't seen her in months although as a chuunin training for jounin, she was supposed to consult her mentor on a regular basis. Gradual changes are often overlooked while seeing someone on a regular basis. After a more prolonged period, he now noticed that she had long lost the awkwardness of youth and her body had developed enticing curves. But Kakashi shook himself out of these thoughts and concentrated on obeying her orders.

"He hasn't lost too much blood, how long ago did this happen?" she asked in her professional voice.

"It took less than 5 minutes to get here."

"Looks like you know your first aid. I just need to re-enforce the seals."

Rikako performed a seal to stop the blood flow and to place the body in stasis. She placed her palms near the body, not quite touching, but almost, channeling her chakra to scan the body for injuries. From the chakra vibrations, she could form a mental image of his injuries, much like a sonogram . "He has a few broken ribs, a punctured lung, internal bleeding, a dislocated shoulder, a cracked pelvis, and multiple lacerations." She listed his injuries calmly but her brow was furrowed with concern. "I'll need you to help with the cellular regeneration of the lung."

Kakashi nodded mutely. Despite his 1000 jutsus, he was not an expert shinobi medic. He could apply field medicine, seal cursed seals, quite a number of minor operations, but in this case, all he could do was follow her lead to repair the torn body.

-…-…-…-…-…-

Nearly an hour later she sighed in relief. "He should be okay now. Let him rest for a while. I'll contact the academy medics to pick him up. Here are some forms to fill out. Do you want to wait till they get here?"

"Yes, thank you." Kakashi felt he needed a rest as well.

She directed him to the waiting room. "Just wait in there. I'll be with you in a minute. I need to clean up. I must look like a complete mess right now," she laughed at the thought. There was blood all over her, even on her face and hair as she tried to brush her hair aside while she worked. In all the excitement, she had forgotten to pin it back.

"You've never looked more lovely Rikako-chan," Kakashi said dreamily. He hadn't meant to say that aloud, but he was tired and his defenses were down.

She turned quite red; the color of her cheeks nearly matched the bloodstains. "Thank you, but I guess you'd say that to anyone who just saved the life of your charge. You should have been paying more attention. No doubt you were reading one of those books." She turned, left the room, and sighed. She didn't mean to blame him, but she was not good with compliments; they embarrassed her and she never knew how to respond appropriately.

Kakashi sighed as well. Despite his continued nonchalance, he was hurt by her words. '_She still doesn't like me,' _he thought.

-...-

_After a month of training with his new genin team, Kakashi received a summons from the Hokage._

"_Kakashi, I called you here because I've received a complaint," Sandaime got right to the point._

"_A complaint?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow in surprise._

"_Yes." Sandaime took out a scroll and unfurled it. The words were written in perfect formal penmanship. Kakashi was able to see just the first line: _"_To the Most Esteemed Hokage, Leader of Hidden Leaf Village"_

"_It says here that you've been late 80 percent of the time to your genin training sessions. Is that true?"_

"_Umm, probably," Kakashi nonchalantly admitted._

"_Hmm, it's broken down here... 2 sessions over 4 hours late, three sessions over 2 hours late, 5 sessions over an hour late, 2 sessions half an hour late...you've only had 15 sessions so far! There's a list of all your excuses as well."_

"_I'm trying to teach them patience and to expect things when they're least expected," Kakashi explained a bit defensively._

"_Yes, that proposed rationale is cited in this complaint as well. Let's see, here it says that 'although this is an admirable intent, it has been taken to the extreme. The time wasted and its effects on the reduction in active training and practical lessons will place these genin at a serious disadvantage when it comes time for the chuunin selection exams.' Kakashi, you really should try to be on time more often. Even I don't buy your excuses, after all, you've already been relieved of most your administrative duties and extracurricular activities," censured Sandaime._

"_Yes, Hokage-sama." Kakashi nodded. He was annoyed and was now ready to leave but..._

"_Now for the second complaint." Sandaime took a deep puff on his pipe._

"_Second complaint?" Kakashi's voice went up an octave._

"_Yes, it's about your...hmm, well it's actually 2 complaints in one...your 'lack of supervision while reading inappropriate and offensive materials in the presence of minors.'" The Hokage sighed. "It says that by reading such books you 'create a hostile environment against women by encouraging the hormonal proclivities of male adolescents.' I'm not sure what that means, but I have to agree, your choice of books is quite questionable!" (Actually Sandaime also had all of Jiraiya's books but he didn't read them in public.)_

"_May I ask who filed the complaints?" Kakashi was now thoroughly annoyed. 'Trying to stop me from reading my books…sacrilegious!'_

"_Well, it's actually signed by the parents of all three genin. But I suspect you already know the real answer." Sandaime rolled the scroll back._

"_Otori Rikako, that wording sounds like her. She doesn't like me does she? But at least she's learning teamwork," Kakashi shrugged. 'He won't take this seriously, will he?'_

"_Yes, well, more likely she felt a united front would have more impact. In all my years as Hokage, I've never received an official complaint about a sensei. What did you do to piss her off? Your choice of reading material, perhaps you could place a book cover over it, if you must." Sandaime suggested in compromise._

_Kakashi grudgingly agreed._

"_Kakashi, I know this is only the second team you have agreed to train. I just hope you do as good a job as the previous, but remember, they all have different personalities and will have different responses to your approach."_

_-...-_

_Kakashi shrugged, nodded, and thought back to the week's events:_

_He had been late to their training sessions all week. At the end of the week, Rikako (he had no proof but he was sure she was the instigator) talked the boys into showing up a couple of hours late so Kakashi was the one waiting for an hour. _

_Takeo said his alarm clock ran out of batteries._

_Kenji said his parents asked him to run an errand._

_Rikako said she wasn't feeling well that morning._

_Kakashi was not amused. He worked them extra hard that day with no breaks, until their chakra ran out. The 3 were on the ground trying to breathe, exhausted. Kakashi saw that Rikako still had a lot of chakra left and was just faking. He ordered her to do another round of exercises. She was furious that she had been singled out and tried hard to maintain her usual composure. _

"_Kakashi-sensei," she said respectfully while standing up, "I would have thought that your intention to train us as a team would preclude any preferential treatment."_

_Kakashi replied curtly, "Sometimes one member has to be a martyr. Today, you're it."_

"_I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei," she said bowing extra low, "I'm sorry you do not believe that due to the sudden onset of my female monthly cycle, I was unfortunately suffering severe abdominal pains this morning. I should have requested a note from my father to explain my condition to your satisfaction." _

_Her mention of the female body embarrassed him. Then something unusual, her chakra was longer a pure blue. There was an aura of green tingeing the outline and getting stronger. This was what Otori meant, he thought. Alarmed, he decided to call it a day._

_'That green chakra, there was no feeling of malevolence unlike Naruto's red chakra. It seemed like normal chakra, but why was it green?' His own chakra was often white like his father's so maybe it was just a genetic trait… _

_-...-_

"_Kakashi, I usually don't interfere with the personal lives of my shinobi, but I'm afraid the way you're headed...you'll end up like Jiraiya, isolated and living vicariously through his books..."_

_-...-...-_

Rikako returned to the waiting room where she found Kakashi reading his book. It had a plain brown paper cover, but she knew it must be Jiraiya's latest novel. '_I was right!' _she thought, but she suppressed her amusement and greeted Kakashi respectfully. "Kakashi-sensei, the Anbu medics should be here within the hour. Since he's stable, there's no need for them to hurry. Meanwhile, I've brought some tea and cookies." She waited for him to drink or eat but he just thanked her and didn't make a move toward the refreshments.

The not-so-little shinobi medic had changed into a clean lab coat, but her hair was still unbound and her cheeks were still flushed from the excitement.

"Rikako-chan, you haven't been to see me about your training in months. You still plan to train for jounin don't you?" asked Kakashi while stowing away his book.

She shrugged, "I've been busy helping out here, but I've been training on my own. I did plan to make an appointment for later this week."

Kakashi scheduled her appointment for the day after tomorrow. "I hope you'll be able to show me something new."

She smiled and laughed, "Oh, I have a new move that even you can't do..."

There was a noise at the door before she could finish and she left to greet her parents. Kakashi heard her give them a summary of the boy's injuries and the surgical procedures. Then the door to the waiting room opened and the old doctor entered the room.

"Kakashi, it's been a long time," he said gruffly, then turned to his daughter. "Rikako, it's time for you to go to bed, you have an early day tomorrow."

"Yes, father. Good-night Kakashi-sensei," she bowed and quietly left the room.

Kakashi watched her lithe form as she walked away. Her father watched him watch her and frowned. "So what do you think of my daughter, Kakashi? She's quite a lovely _young_ lady now isn't she? So how's she doing with her jounin training?"

"She could have made jounin years ago. She's smart, creative, calm under pressure. She has the right personality and all the skills," Kakashi replied seriously.

"You mean the personality and skills to be a killer? And you know what else female jounin have to do." There was a dark undertone to Otori's voice.

Kakashi sighed, "It's what she wants. Besides, she can turn down those types of missions."

"You know her. Is she the kind to turn down a challenge? How many female jounin have been able to avoid those types of assignments? Why do you think they are so highly paid and valued? Did you know a month ago she asked me about a mission she was offered? It required possibly seducing a suspected drug smuggler. Did she tell you about that?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Well, I doubt if that assignment would have gone to her. Umm, you know she's not rated highly in that area. She's too...caustic to be a believable seductress."

Otori chuckled in spite of himself, "Yes, well, I can imagine her lecturing a drug smuggler about the evils and effects of drugs on the body. But still..."

Kakashi tried to change the subject, "How have things been on the home front?"

"She still has restless nights. Rarely violent anymore. I suppose she's grown out of it," Otori said, but his speech was hesitant. "I just want to be sure that you won't say anything to her."

"I haven't. But you should. Secrets like that have ways of coming out. Maybe it will help her to know her origins."

"It's just between you, me, my wife, and the Hokage."

"The other Anbu from then, they know. Many of the villagers know as well," Kakashi insisted.

"All the other Anbu are dead. The villagers only know that she's not ours but nothing else."

"That's a start. It will come out one day," Kakashi said, thinking of Naruto.

"You'd better pray that it doesn't. You think you know her, but you don't." Otori sighed and thought to himself, '_You haven't lived with her and experienced her true powers. If she knew the truth, she would be devastated and who knows what she would do_.' "Just don't press her to be a jounin and a killer like yourself. She's happy as a chuunin and as a medic…"

-…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: Ok, I had to resort to a terribly embarrassing plot device, a wet T-shirt, but I needed something to get Kakashi's attention._


	22. KKT 3,2 Shinobi Rule 25

_**3.2 Shinobi Rule #25**_

Lying in his bed, stubbornly refusing to get up despite the morning sun's reflection in his dark gray eyes, Kakashi looked at the pictures by his headboard. His own genin team with Yondaime. He and Obito were scowling at the camera, Rin smiling in the middle. His first genin team. Sasuke glared at the camera. Naruto glared at Sasuke. Sakura smiling in the middle. When was the last time he saw Naruto or Sakura? (_Forget about the other one!)_ They were off on missions and living their own lives. It was going to be the same now. His second genin team. Takeo had his eyes closed. Rikako stared uncomfortably at the camera, with just a hint of a smile. Kenji struck a pose to show off the muscles in his right arm. They were gone now, too. Kenji off with the Anbu. Takeo teaching at the Academy. Rikako sometimes worked with her parents, but as a medic-nin, she was in high demand and was often asked to accompany teams on long missions.

They no longer needed him and soon he wouldn't be seeing them either. He had his new genin team now, whom he accidentally passed. They had coincidentally attacked him simultaneously and he thought it was a coordinated effort. Maybe he wanted them to pass so badly, he ignored the rather random effort, just so he wouldn't be alone again. '_It's sad what age does to you. When you're young, solitude is bearable…but after time it wears you down.'_

And now, since last night's event, Kakashi was struggling with a strange feeling unlike what he had ever felt before, or perhaps he had felt it before but it was so long ago it was but a faint memory. It was an unsettling feeling, like a knot in his stomach that tightened and moved upwards to constrict his heart. Something akin to indigestion or heartburn, but a feeling of depression and longing accompanied it.

Since he could walk he had trained to be a shinobi. No tears, no emotion, just complete the mission. Even when his father died, despite the horror and the humiliation, he had shed no tears. But when Obito died, he had felt something change within him. He began to feel because of Obito's sacrifice, but still his emotions were muted. He never felt much enthusiasm or passion for anything except his books (_they were really good!)._ He had had his share of women (_and a few men out of curiosity_), but he never had to pursue them, they just seemed to gravitate toward him. Though he cared about them in his own way, he never felt anything, or rather never allowed himself to feel anything, more than a sincere fondness. They instinctively knew that would not change, so most of his relationships were little more than one night stands (_though some lasted more than just a night - some had great stamina!)._

_'Sigh, the ramen girl, whats-her-name that I saved from those shinobi wannabes, and that princess... such cute civilians_...'

Many of his friends were now married with children. He had just received a birthday invitation for Kurenai's and Asuma's second child's first birthday party. '_Why invite me? I don't have any kids, that I know of_...' And Iruka had a whole brood of brats. Maybe he was just feeling left out.

But he had never been interested in anything long term or finding someone and settling down to raise future shinobi. '_So why now? And why her?' _He had always been fond of her, as he was of all his genin, nothing more. No, that wasn't really true. There was their special connection, that she knew nothing about. But she was different than the others because... she was…interesting…and she amused him with her funny speech and deep thoughts. He had to admit he looked forward to their training sessions. And now, after seeing her covered in blood, he found her…alluring. Red was definitely a good color on her.

But she was a girl half his age. No, she wasn't a girl, she was a young woman now. And she was never a girl, that would imply naïveté. Even then she was an adult in a child's form, more mature as a child than many adults his age. But what did he want from her? Just a little fun? Or maybe some respect.

_'I am not a pervert,'_ he insisted unrealistically to himself. '_I may read these books but I'm not like Jiraiya. I don't ogle nubile young women in public. I'm…I'm…I'm just…I'm just a fool,' _he sighed. '_To have these kinds of feelings now, after so long, for someone like her…it's just not a good idea…especially since…she thinks I really am a pervert…and a lazy irresponsible idiot. Well…it's not like I'm in love or anything like that. Don't know what that would even feel like. I'm just attracted to her because…because…because of all that blood... and she amuses me…and I've been feeling lonely lately...that's all…that's all it is...'_

-…-…-…-…-…-

"Good morning," Kakashi said, smiling from under his mask, as he appeared suddenly before Kurenai who was on her way to the store to buy more diapers, leaving poor Asuma home alone with the kids.

'What do you want?" Kurenai replied suspiciously, annoyed that he startled her.

"Well, I was just hoping you'd do me a favor…"

"A favor?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you have time in your schedule to take on Otori Rikako who's training for jounin…"

"Otori Rikako? Why does she need a mentor? Haven't you been her mentor for years?"

"Yeah, well, you know this is the last year that she'll need a jounin sponsor. Once a chuunin is 18, they're on their own. She should have made jounin by now, but I'm having problems motivating her. I thought a kunoichi role model would be good for her."

"Hmm," Kurenai gazed at him with her hypnotic red eyes. "It's unusual for you to be so… responsible…to take such an interest in one of your disciples…"

"Huh? I take an interest in all my students…current and ex…" Kakashi replied, a bit defensively.

_'Right, like the way you treated Naruto and Sasuke evenly_,' thought Kurenai, _'Tis girl must be special to you, the way Sasuke was.' "_Fine, I'll take her on. Just have her see me for an appointment later this week…"

-…-…-…-…-…-

At their scheduled session, Rikako proudly showed Kakashi the technique she had been developing - performing one handed jutsus. Kakashi was duly impressed, '_I haven't seen that in a long time.'_

"Right now I can only do the more basic, simple techniques this way, but in a couple of months, I think I'll be able to do some of the higher level ones. You see, the trick is, it takes up more chakra. You have to extend and shape the chakra from one hand to form a ghost image of the other in order to perform the seal..."

Kakashi listened attentively to her explanation. '_Few jounin would have that level of chakra control.' _"So do you plan to take the jounin tests this year?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I have nearly all the mission requirements. I just need a solo A mission. I'm not sure if I'm ready for one." She frowned slightly as though she was contemplating something distasteful.

Kakashi had been thinking about the discussion with her father. He was right. Female jounin were sometimes handed special assignments that male jounin could not accomplish. They were not as dangerous and were relatively easier assignments, but what was necessary was not discussed in polite company. It was a quick and sure way for a kunoichi to make jounin. Details of A missions were normally sealed, so no one knew which kunoichi decided to take that path. His developing feelings for her were making it difficult for him to advise her objectively. Plus, it was clear she did not feel comfortable discussing such things with him. It would be better if she had a female mentor to advise her. Her mysterious green chakra seemed to be under control, no unusual incidents in years. He no longer had to keep his eye on her. '_A ninja must not show any emotions or consider them in his decisions; he must do what is best.'_

"Rikako-chan, I've been thinking," Kakashi started to say and then hesitated. "I'll be busy with my new genin team this year and won't have time to advise you. I'm sorry, but I can't be your mentor any longer. It's been nearly five years now. I don't have much more to teach you. It's not like you have a sharingan you know. I suggest you speak to Kurenai-sensei. She's available and it would be good for you to have a kunoichi role model."

No response, silence, as Rikako lowered her head, gritted her teeth and tried to compose herself. Kakashi suddenly saw the green chakra pulsating strongly around her and felt an oppressive pressure as the surrounding air changed. He braced himself for whatever would occur next, but to his surprise, she did nothing.

"Fine...this is our last session. Thank you for your patience and instruction these past years, Kakashi-sensei." She bowed low but refused to look at him as she turned to leave.

"Rikako-chan…wait…I want you to know...you are...were my best student."

In nearly fifteen years, he had had only 3 genin teams. The current team was good, no one outstanding, but they worked well as a team. His first genin turned out to be all extraordinary shinobi, for better or worse. But they weren't truly his disciples; they developed their powers under other mentors. Kenji made chuunin the second time around and was now with the Anbu. Takeo made chuunin soon afterwards. Maybe in another five years those two would be jounin. But Rikako was _his_ best student. She learned techniques easily and now knew nearly all the ones Kakashi knew (that didn't require a sharingan). She also acquired additional knowledge independently. Her interests were broad and she was extremely analytical. Her training routine was disciplined and comprehensive. And she was focused, never distracted by rivalries or relationships or emotions. A true shinobi. She could go far if she wanted to, but she avoided A missions whenever possible, seemingly afraid of confronting death. '_If only she could get over that.'_ He watched as she walked slowly and steadily away.

The lovely young kunoichi said nothing in return and didn't look back. Blood trickled from her lower lip - she bit it to prevent her tears from falling.

-...-...-...-

_Author's notes: Some people think Kakashi is too cool to be with a single woman, but in my opinion, it's not because he's cool. Kakashi is the type to avoid serious relationships because of various psychological problems which I like to explore in my stories. In my opinion he would push someone away if he started to have real feelings for her/him. _


	23. KKT 3,3 The Jounin Graduation

_**3.3 The Jounin Graduation**_

From the podium, Sandaime looked happily at the line of jounin graduates. '_Not bad this year, quite a few, Konoha will be in good hands in the future. Now if I could only find a suitable replacement for myself...'_

The usual inspirational opening remarks were still going on. Gai was standing next to Kakashi so he just had to say, "You know, it's a good thing Rikako-chan decided to lose you as her mentor and chose me instead. In less than a year, she's already made jounin. Really, Kakashi, with her talent, you should have done more..."

"Hmm? Did you say something?" Kakashi asked in his usual bored way.

"Arrgh! He did it to me again! Damn his cool flippant attitude!" Gai grabbed his head and twisted his hair in frustration.

Heads turned and faces frowned, shushing Gai into silence.

Kakashi thought resignedly_, 'She didn't need either of us to make jounin, she just needed to be ready.'_

As the graduates were called one by one, the Hokage handed each a scroll.

Her name was called next. Instead of wearing the usual shinobi uniform like most of the others, she was uncharacteristically dressed up in a beautiful blood red dress studded with pearls, and embroidered with birds and flowers in colorful silken threads. The dress was sleeveless, exposing all the scars on her arms. But despite the high slit in the skirt and the lack of sleeves, it was a relatively conservative dress with a high neck mandarin collar. Her loose hair rippled and cascaded down her back. It was longer than it had ever been. She smiled broadly, genuinely, as she received her scroll. Gai stepped forward to give her a big bear hug. Kakashi watched them intensely. After congratulating her, Gai turned his attention to his next pupil. Rikako looked around for her parents but her former sensei caught her eye and he moved forward to greet her. He hadn't seen her since their last session.

"Rikako-chan, congratulations, I knew it wouldn't be long..." he started to say.

"Excuse me, Kakashi-sensei, I have my jounin scroll now, so I'm your peer and colleague. I'll be teaching at the academy this year. It is appropriate that you address me as sensei." She bowed, excused herself and walked over to her parents without looking back.

Kakashi sighed as he watched her walk away.

Kurenai sauntered mischievously over to Kakashi. "Must be terrible to have feelings for someone who won't give you the time of day."

Kakashi replied in his usual nonchalant manner, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kurenai laughed, "It's quite obvious, you've had your eye on her all during the ceremony."

The gray haired jounin ignored her.

Despite his lack of response, Kurenai continued, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, it's just as obvious she has a crush on you. Why else would a woman hold a grudge for so long? I don't need sharingan or byakugan powers to see that." She practically skipped back to Asuma, then giggled and whispered new shinobi gossip in his ear.

Kakashi reflected on her words. '_Could it be possible? Or is she just getting back at me for teasing her about Asuma all those years ago?'_

-…-…-…-…-


	24. KKT 3,4 Kakashi Gives In

_**3.4 Kakashi Gives in**_

_'Seeing her again was…disturbing. I was able to put those feelings behind me_,' Kakashi insisted to himself even though deep down he knew it wasn't true. She was still there in the back of his mind and trying not to think of her made him think of her all the more. The year had passed uneventfully, which gave him too much time to think about his solitary life. He missed her, her ethical questions, her moral ambivalence, her informational ramblings, even her snide remarks. He missed their training sessions and he wondered how much more she improved. _'Gai's not a better teacher than I am, is he? Does she respect him more? But he really is an idiot! No, I'm the idiot. After all, he has no problem expressing his feelings though he does go overboard…'_

_'What would you do Obito? Would you like her? Probably, you liked everyone… Obito…Rin_…' Kakashi felt he needed their approval to move on with his life, to be happy when theirs were unfairly cut short. '_But what do I do now? She's not like the others_…'

He had thought that if he were ever to fall in love, it would be with someone like Rin. Ironically, though they were both medic-nin, there the comparison ended. Sweet Rin who followed him around like a love sick puppy. Aloof Rikako who hid her emotions under layers of sarcasm. _'What should I do?'_

Well, there was nothing he could do when she didn't even want to talk to him. '_So that's that.'_ It was for the best; after all, considering their history, it just wasn't a good idea. But he just wanted to know what would it feel like to be with someone he really cared about. The veteran shinobi forcibly pushed aside his thoughts and feelings. School was out and there were no classes or training sessions for a couple of weeks, just the occasional mission. It was time he got out of bed to visit the shinobi memorial as he had done practically every day for the past two decades. He thought about his best friend and their last mission together and sighed.

_-…-…-…-…-_

But there was someone already there, sitting by the memorial. It was a pretty petite young woman dressed in black with long dark hair braided erratically in the back. Several books and scrolls were piled around her. Kakashi hesitated, remembering their last encounter, but decided to greet her. To his surprise she rose first and bowed deeply.

"Kakashi-sensei, I hereby offer the deepest sincerest apologies for my behavior towards you during the jounin graduation. It was completely uncalled for and I hope you can forgive me in the spirit of our becoming colleagues and allies."

Kakashi was amused despite trying hard not to feel anything._ 'Sometimes she has the funniest way of expressing herself_.'

"It's okay. You had a right to be mad at me. I didn't treat you well. I dropped your training too abruptly." He wanted to tell her, but was still unsure if it were wise and instead changed the subject. "So what are you doing here with all this reading material?"

"Well, as you know, I've been appointed assistant historian and I'm trying to put together a complete text chronicling the sacrifices of the shinobis engraved on this memorial. I'm here for inspiration. These names here, were they friends of yours?"

"How did you know?"

"Well, according to the death records, they were Anbu members and died during the time you were active in the Anbu. I checked to see if you were in the same platoon at the time."

"You sure did your research," Kakashi said, impressed.

"Thank you, I've been working on and off this project for years." _(Actually, her father told her_.) "It didn't seem right that there is this memorial, but no history to go with it. They should be acknowledged for their individual actions as well as sacrificing their lives for Konoha. Did you know that this one here invented the foldable shuriken…"

The petite kunoichi continued to impart information about the various names. Much of it Kakashi already knew and he was scarcely listening. Instead, he was observing her. Excitement shone in her dark dark eyes. '_Here's something she loves, not the fighting required of a shinobi. She's at home with her books and scrolls.'_ She paused every so often to wave a lock a hair from her face and to tuck it behind her ear. But then she stopped speaking. He didn't notice that she noticed that he wasn't listening.

"Well, I'm sure you're busy and I've already taken up too much of your time. Please excuse me. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing." Annoyed, she sat down and picked up a scroll.

Kakashi debated again whether he should tell her. '_Why is it so hard? Why can't I just come out and say it? I might never get another opportunity...' _He started to think of Rin, how he couldn't return her feelings until it was too late_. 'That was so long ago, if I could live my life over…but I can't…so this chance, no matter how slim, even if she laughs in my face…I have to say something_.' And yet he prayed for some enemies to suddenly drop down on them so he would have another excuse. But none appeared.

_'What would you do Obito? Would you tell her? You didn't tell Rin, but that was because of me. What would you tell me to do now? Would you be satisfied with the way I've lived my life since you've been gone? Or do you still think I'm the idiot? I've changed since then, but perhaps not enough...' _

_'Just tell her you idiot!'_ said the Obito voice which popped into his head on rare occasions.

"I was just thinking about why I... I want you to know why...I was holding you back. You couldn't reach your full potential with me as your sensei. You became too important to me and I couldn't...advise you objectively."

"What do you mean by important?" she asked intensely, focusing on that word, looking at him directly.

_'She's forcing me to say it. Why is it harder than taking a life?' _But he could say nothing, do nothing, but avert his eye from her gaze. '_It's so much easier to take a life.'_ Maybe because that was something he was used to doing. All these years he had lived by the old shinobi adage - never reveal your emotions.

But she persisted, "How am I important? I am important to you like a good friend, or a sister, or a colleague, or something more?"

Kakashi scratched his head uncomfortably, but the multiple choice made it easier. "Something more," he finally admitted.

She was quiet for a long while, thinking over his words. Kakashi started to squirm and think he had made a mistake after all. "Let me see your face," she finally said. It was more like an order than a request.

He looked at her, surprised at her response. He had romantically imagined she'd throw herself at him. _'Isn't that what normal women do?' _"Is how I look that important to you?" he replied.

"No, but whether you trust me is." She continued to stare at him relentlessly.

He hesitated, nodded and pulled down the mask covering the lower half of his face. He met her gaze confidently now and felt her eyes moving over his entire face and tracing his scar.

She rose up and walked over to him, then slowly reached up with her right hand to caress his left cheek. "How handsome. Why do you hide it?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I can't have every girl in the village falling at my feet. I was waiting for someone special to come along."

She started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh, a bit too much, almost hysterically. '_It wasn't that funny_,' he thought.

"I'm s…sor...sorry...but that sounds like a line from one of those books you're always reading. Hah! Hah!" and she continued to laugh.

Gone was the confidence he had just a short while ago. His face turned an uncharacteristic shade of red. Embarrassed, he started to raise his hands to pull up his mask again, but her small hands grabbed his larger ones, stopping their motion. She tip-toed to plant an innocent kiss on his scarred cheek and whispered in his ear shyly, "You're important to me, too."

-…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: Hope that was somewhat believable. Writing a love scene for Kakashi is really hard! But there's more going on as you'll learn in part 4._


	25. KKT 3,5 Kakashi Reveals the Past

_**3.5 Kakashi Reveals the Past**_

The sun had just started to rise. Its soft golden rays snuck in through the gaps in the drawn shades, forcing the room to gradually reveal its mysteries.

He was still lying by her side, watching her uneven breathing. He knew that she had been in and out of sleep throughout the night. He had neglected sleep as well, to observe her chakra. It was the normal blue during the day, but at night, when she tried so desperately to sleep, with his sharingan he saw the green chakra leaking through. There was a consistent cycle - she would fall asleep for a while, then shudder, and the green chakra would engulf her for a few seconds until she woke. Sometimes she would get up to use the bathroom, but usually she tried to fall back asleep, tossing and turning until the cycle repeated itself. Seeing her restless sleep tore at his heart. '_So it was like this her entire life, never to sleep peacefully through the night.'_

_-...-...-_

_They had been together for a couple of weeks now, mostly training and developing jutsus. Kakashi had planned to tell her the truth about her past. But each time he found another excuse. Maybe her father was right. Let sleeping dogs lie. What good is the truth now? What did the past matter? But tonight he decided he had to tell her. Their relationship might not survive, but he couldn't continue hiding the truth, letting her live a lie. _

_It was after dinner. She was relaxing on his couch reading a book while he finished the dishes. (All men should do dishes!)_

_'This is it,' he thought as he sat down next to her. "Rikako-chan," he started to say. She looked up from her book and saw his somber expression. She could read his expression just from the single uncovered eye. Concerned, she closed the book and listened attentively. _

"_I need to tell you something…This is difficult for me...I hope you'll understand." He took a deep breath. She held her breath along with him. "I...I...I love you..." _

_'Ugh! I didn't mean to say that...the wrong words came out,' Kakashi thought desperately. But it was too late to take them back. It was just that she was reading one of his adult books. She had such an amused expression, and looked so seductive..._

_She smiled broadly because it was the first time he had used those words, and laughed, "Silly, I knew that already. I thought you were going to tell me something bad, you seemed so serious." She leaned into him, reached up with her hands to pull down his mask, then to entwine his hair, and kissed him. This time her kisses were more fervent than usual and he couldn't resist them..._

_- insert your own lemon scene -_

…_Despite her bravado in being the initiator, he could tell she was inexperienced so he had proceeded more slowly and gently than normal, at first. The intensity of feeling he should have had was mitigated by the cloud he knew was on the horizon. Still, it was different, better in some ways, more poignant, knowing that the feelings were mutual. But yet sadder, knowing that again it wouldn't last and this time it would not be his choice._

_-...-...-_

The sun was up now and the red rays of dawn pushed stubbornly through the shades. He got up, showered, put on his usual shinobi uniform, but left the mask off, and placed his forehead protector over his sharingan. As he came out of the bathroom, she woke.

"Ugh, good morning," she smiled up at him.

"Did you have a good sleep?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"The usual," she frowned and fell silent.

"Well, go ahead and wash up while I prepare breakfast."

She nodded and moved her nude form obediently, slipping from underneath the thin sheets.

_'I have to tell her_,' he thought._ 'The sooner the better or I will never do it_. _But sleeping with her makes things even more complicated…'_

She came out as he prepared to set the table. Her long dark hair, still wet, reflected a hint of violet in the morning sun.

"I didn't realize you could get up so early when there's no mission scheduled," she teased.

He shrugged, "I didn't get much sleep last night either."

"Well, I guess that was too much for you considering your age," she laughed heartily at her own joke.

He chuckled half-heartedly. He didn't like the age jokes. He was a bit sensitive about the difference in their ages, but for some reason it amused her greatly. He sat down across from her, trying to decide whether to tell her before, during, or after breakfast. '_Well, it's no good being upset on an empty stomach. What's another ten minutes...'_

They ate in silence, each absorbed in thoughts they were unwilling to share. They ate mechanically, neither enjoying the scrambled eggs and toast (which was just as well, Kakashi forgot to add any seasoning).

Kakashi, the consummate procrastinator, continued to argue with himself_. 'Last night, I told her I loved her. She didn't say it back, but I'm sure she does…she's just worse about expressing her feelings than I am (if that were possible). But if I tell her now, chances are she'll hate me. If I tell her after she admits she loves me then…which is worse? Would she hate me more or less? Then she can't say she never loved me so maybe there's a better chance she'll forgive me. But maybe she'll feel more betrayed and…sigh…there really is no way around it. She's going to hate me. Well…maybe not…after all, she's a shinobi, she should understand…sigh…I'm going to miss her…'_

_'Just tell her! You idiot!' _Obito's voice popped into his head again. '_She'll forgive you. I forgave you didn't I?'_

_'She'll forgive me. Yeah, right, like the way Sasuke forgave Itachi.'_

After he took his very last bite of egg (probably the longest time he ever took to eat) he asked her again, "So you had a bad night?"

She nodded and pushed away her plate. She was done eating just before him. "Sorry if I woke you. I tried not to move as much as usual. I've had insomnia ever since I could remember. When I do fall asleep I have these strange recurring dreams."

"Oh? What are they?" he asked curiously, wondering if they were related to the green chakra.

"Well, there's one where it's like I'm sleeping, and I open my eyes and everything is a bloody red. Suddenly there's this menacing presence, and my head starts to pound, and I feel something pushing and pulling at me, and I try to get away but I can't. Then there's a bright flash and I wake up. In another, some black shadow is after me, trying to kill me. I can't move the way I usually can, I'm slow, sluggish and it easily overcomes me. Its eyes stare into mine and it has red eyes like a demon. Then it grabs at me, repeatedly stabbing me with its claws, and I wake up. Crazy isn't it?" She laughed and shrugged uneasily, and changed the subject. "So what's the plan for today?" she asked playfully.

_'This is it.' _Kakashi sighed, "I have to tell you something first."

"Hmm? What is it?"

He hesitated again, now trying to decide which one of the approaches he had rehearsed he should use. "Your parents, they're not your real parents," he stated bluntly, dispassionately.

"Hmm? What do you mean…you mean they're not my biological parents?"

He nodded. '_She's quiet, thoughtful, not upset, that's good.'_

She looked up from the table, "Well, who are my real parents? Did you know them?"

Kakashi took a deep breath. "Your parents were shinobi from Thunder Country's Hidden Cloud Village. They're dead."

"Thunder Country? Why was I raised here then? I didn't know father...I mean Dr. Otori, was from Thunder Country."

"He's not." '_She's still calm and reasonable…so far so good…'_

"Did he know my...real parents?" There was a slight quiver in her voice and her face started to flush. She stared at him intensely.

"No...he...I gave you to him." He looked down at the remnants of his breakfast, unable to meet her gaze.

"How...but why?"

"I...I killed your real parents. I didn't know what else to do with you." '_There…it was finally out.' _He almost sighed in relief, but the tension in the room was still palpable.

"You... killed them... why?" Her voice was shaking now. Her usual composure was completely gone.

"It was my mission." He raised his head to look at her guiltily.

"Your mission?" Her voice became deathly cold.

"I...I didn't know. I was just following orders, completing the mission objective…"

"Tell me about them," she demanded.

"I only know they were high level shinobi chosen to guard state secrets." A slight lie, there was more.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? You knew…all this time…" She didn't raise her voice, but she rose from her seat and started collecting her belongings.

"I tried, many times, but I didn't want to hurt you…"

"Then why now?"

"You needed to know. And if we're to have any chance of a future, there should be no secrets between us."

She said nothing more, and was ready to go, but she dropped a scroll - her hands were shaking furiously. Kakashi reached for it but she pushed him away roughly.

"Stay away from me if you value your life!" Her voice was different, deeper. The green chakra enveloped her and pulsated around her. The air became heavy and ionized as if a storm cloud rolled in through the windows. She quickly made for the door and slammed it shut.

_'Well, that went better than expected_,' he sighed, '_at least_ _she didn't try to kill me_.'

-.-.-

_Previous night, Kakashi imagining her possible reactions:_

"_You're adopted. Dr. Otori and his wife are not your real parents..." She took out her staff, converted it to its full length with double spearheads, twirled it at top speed and attacked him furiously with the intent to kill._

"_I'm sorry I killed your parents..." All at once she threw a hundred senbons, shurikens and kunais at him and topped it off with a round of fireballs until he's burnt to a crisp, along everything else in his apartment. _

What he didn't realize was that she was capable of much worse things.

-…-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: Was considering throwing in a lemon but felt it disrupted the flow of the story. May consider incorporating one in Part 4._

_Some people believe Kakashi is too cool to be with one person, but in my opinion it's not because he's cool but he has various psychological problems with I like to explore in my stories. So far in this story, when he thinks he's having feelings for her the first thing he does is push her away. I hate lecherous Kakashi stories, very OOC. Then when they become involve he sabotages their relationship, partly because he thinks she should know the truth, but also because he doesn't think he deserves happiness due tohis comrades' deaths. He only gets involved with her because subconsciously he knows it won't last._


	26. KKT 3,6 The Missing Nin

_**3.6 The Missing-Nin**_

The next day, after training with his genin\, Kakashi decided to drop by Dr. Otori's house. His wife Rika answered the door as usual, but then slammed the door in Kakashi's face. But the gray haired jounin was unfazed and rang the doorbell again. This time the good doctor answered but he started cursing the way only 10 year plus Anbu veterans could.

"You lousy m--- f--- son of a b-- arrogant bastard! I told, told, told you to keep your stupid idiotic m--- f--- mouth shut, but you always know better than anyone else don't you, you m--- f--- son of a w--...You were like this back in the Anbu..."

The old Anbu vet brought up every mistake, every sordid rumor, every questionable action he could think of from the younger man's past. Kakashi stood there patiently until he was done. "Is she here?" he finally asked when Otori paused to take a breath.

"No, thanks to you, she ran off yesterday, lord knows where, and even if I knew, I wouldn't tell an a--h-- m--- f--- son of a b-- like you anyway!"

"I just wanted to see if she's ok," Kakashi said calmly.

"What did you expect? I warned you, over and over again! Why did you have to tell her?"

"She needed to know the truth. Something inside was tearing her apart."

"You're the one who tore her world apart," accused the older man.

"She'll get over this. It's for the best," Kakashi insisted with a confidence he did not feel.

"Do you think you know her so much better than us, who have loved her and taken care of her, suffered for her, for all these years? Get away from my house or I'll rip out that sharingan!" He slammed the door.

Otori's news caused Kakashi to become concerned. He hadn't thought of that before. He had only thought of how she would hate him. '_But to leave Konoha... If she became a missing-nin, if she went to Hidden Cloud Village, what would happen? Not again...I swore I would never let something like that happen again…'_

He still had a duty to Konoha despite his feelings. He would have to inform the Hokage of her disappearance. This time he would pursue his former student and bring her back in chains if need be.

-…-…-…-…-

Kakashi hurried over to the Hokage's administrative building and found Sandaime sitting peacefully at his desk, smoking his pipe, blowing smoke rings, trying to hover them over a kunai stabbed into his desk. He turned his head toward the uncharacteristically anxious shinobi, but continued to blow his smoke rings.

"I told her," Kakashi said as coolly as he could.

"Well, I see you're still alive, she must have took it well," Sandaime observed.

"Not really, she's missing."

"Hmm..." the Hokage took out the omniscient orb and tried to locate her, but the orb remained cloudy. "She's more advanced than I thought. She can veil her presence. But I can still detect a faint resonance of her chakra somewhere in the village. Don't worry, Kakashi, she's not a missing-nin."

Kakashi sighed with relief, but could not shake the feeling that this was all too easy. He thought back to 18 years ago:

"_Are you sure this is wise Kakashi? Perhaps you should have left the child where you found her, or with someone in Thunder Country." Sandaime looked sympathetically at the young man before him._

"_I was afraid she wouldn't survive. I couldn't think what else to do. I wasn't thinking clearly," said the young jounin with a tremor in his voice._

"_We don't know anything about this child, what her powers might be if any. And what if… she's a plant…"_

"_A plant?"_

"_Maybe they want us to have her...then if she returns ...Well, maybe I'm just becoming paranoid in my old age. In any case, she's in good hands with the doctor for now. We'll have to keep an eye on her, just in case."_

The Hokage was right. He should have left her there. He should never have brought her back to Konoha. '_But then I wouldn't have had that night with her…'_

-…-…-…-…-

_'Well, what did you expect?'_ Kakakshi asked himself, '_You should have left well enough alone. You knew it wasn't going to work. You never should have pursued her. You never should have opened your heart. Now look at the pain you're in.' _

_'Well, it's a good pain isn't it? At least I feel something now. I haven't felt anything for so long I might as well be dead.'_

_'So what are you going to do now? You know it's impossible, so what do you want with her?'_

_'Silently and without a trace, that's how ninja leave the world. Maybe all I want is someone to grieve for me when I'm gone.'_

Two weeks passed and still no word. She was missing at her positions as Historical Assistant at the library and Advanced Field First Aid teacher at the Academy. Something was wrong. Even if she were furious with him, she was very responsible and should have shown up at work.

Kakashi returned to ask the Hokage to check for her presence again and to organize a search for her.

"Aren't you over reacting Kakashi? She just needs some time alone to sort things out. It's quite a blow to find out not only that the parents she's known all her life aren't her real parents, but that her real parents were killed by a man she cares about."

"But it's been 2 weeks," he protested.

"People handle things differently. She's still young, you know, despite her apparent maturity. And she's a woman. Who knows how or why they react the way they do."

Kakashi was not convinced. "Then I'll look for her myself."

"If she doesn't want to be found, she won't be found, least of all by you. Besides, how are you going to search all of Konoha for her? Just be glad she's still here."

"Is she? What proof is there besides the orb? It just vaguely senses her chakra. She hasn't been seen at any of the places she frequents."

"I see, you've already started looking for her. If we admit she's gone missing, you know what we'll have to do next. Perhaps it's best to leave it alone. I told her supervisors that she's taking some time off for personal reasons. That should be good for a while, but I have to tell you...umm..."

"Tell me what?" Kakashi asked anxiously.

"Well, the staff seems to think it's your fault...a lover's quarrel or something. They think you wronged her somehow. You know how gossip flies around here even though shinobis are supposed to be discreet..."

-...-...-...-

_Author's Notes: I rewrote this story to include Sasuke leaving but I kept Sandaime around mostly because it would be too difficult to rewrite his parts for Tsunade and I need him for story#3. I envision she would handle things differently and there would be different interactions between the characters. So somehow Sandaime survived Orochimaru's attack and Tsunade takes over in a later story._


	27. KKT 3,7 Kakashi's Memories Revealed

_Author's Notes: One of the reasons I started this series of stories is because there are many KakashixOC__ stories about Kakashi and a love from his past. I thought it would be interesting to write one where the relationship develops in the present, or rather his future, which is actually more difficult._

_**3.7 Kakashi's Memories Revealed**_

It had been over a month now and still no sign of her. He could not go back to the Hokage, the old man would do nothing but laugh at him. Sandaime had a rather lenient policy on missing-nin. After all, he even allowed Orochimaru to go scot-free despite his inhumane experiments. Kakashi wished she were listed as a missing-nin, then he could angle for a mission to pursue her and bring her back.

But Sandaime insisted she was still somewhere in Konoha. '_But where? And how could she hide herself so completely?'_ There was a general alert out so anyone seeing her would report it to the Hokage though orders were not to arrest her. '_Maybe she's using henge and no one recognized her._ _But she can't change all her habits. I'll have to place the bookstore under surveillance. Maybe I can arrange it as a D mission. I'm sure I'll be able to recognize her from the book selection. Few people around here like reading obscure foreign texts…'_

It was still early morning. Kakashi had just had his breakfast and was getting ready to meet his team for a mission. His thoughts were disturbed by a knock at the door. He didn't get many visitors but was doubly surprised to find Rikako standing there. She seemed relatively calm, but uncomfortable, her eyes were lowered.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you here again." He managed to say despite his surprise. What he wanted to do right now was to grab her and hold her, but he just stood there, in the doorway, transfixed.

"May I come in?" she asked politely.

"Yes, of course." He moved away from the entrance so she could enter.

She looked around and saw the pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen. She laughed easily. "You're soooo lazy," she commented. She walked over to the sink and started to do the dishes, but then accidentally knocked over a bottle of salt into a pot full of dishwater. She seemed nervous now and her hands were shaking. "Oh, crap, I'm sorry," she muttered as she picked up the pot and reached in to get the salt shaker.

"It's all right just leave the dishes..." Kakashi reached over to help. But then suddenly she threw the pot of water at him. He stepped back too late and now he was completely drenched. Then he saw her hands forming a jutsu. He deftly leaped out of the kitchen just a fraction of a second before she unleashed a lightning bolt.

_'Damn, she's really trying to kill me, the salt water is conductive, she doesn't need to hit me directly, it can travel through the water on the floor.' _Kakashi jumped onto the sofa to avoid the crackling sparks all around him. Now a volley of shuriken rained down on him. He blocked them easily with his glove plates but she had diverted his attention and performed another seal. Not just one, but two separate seals, one with each hand. Two lightning bolts attacked him from different directions.

_'She's never been able to do a lightning technique before, that's from Hidden Cloud. Has she been there? But how? The Hokage would have known...' _He jumped from the sofa but a spur from a lightning bolt caught his leg. He felt the shock throughout his body and he tumbled to the floor. She stood over him with her senbons at the ready.

Kakashi didn't want to fight her. He didn't want to hurt her. But it appeared she wanted a fight to the death, and in her state, with her powers, in this enclosed environment, his chances were slim. '_I'm getting too old for this.'_

He raised his hands in defeat, got up on his knees, then placed his hands behind his head, saying "My life is yours, kill me to avenge your parents if that's what you want. Just know that what I feel for you is the truth."

She hesitated for a second, then to his surprise (_he was sure that speech would work!),_ she threw her senbon at him. He could have gotten out of the way, but he had offered his life and he was a man of his word and he had to abide by it. He closed his eyes as he felt the needles pierce his shoulders, chest, and neck. His last vision before the darkness overtook him, was the green chakra enveloping her, and her eyes turning black as death as she leaned over him for the kill.

-…-…-…-…-…-

His life flashed by - images of his parents, their deaths, his training, his friends, his teachers, his missions, Obito's death, his sharingan operation, Yondaime's death, and then the mission to Thunder Country.

The scenario was relatively simple, create a distraction, the Cloud shinobi would attend to it in force, leaving behind just a handful of shinobi guards. Kakashi entered the building while the other Anbu engaged the remaining guards. He was attacked immediately by a lightning bolt from above, but he quickly employed kawarimi and for an instant it looked as if he were fried. Kakashi appeared behind his opponent by using the Fourth's body flicker technique. The man did not even have a chance to register his surprise before the kunai cut his throat.

The Cloud shinobi was down, but then there was another presence in the room. He felt the air around him grow heavy. His vision became obscured. He had had his sharingan for a few years now and it decidedly gave him an advantage, enhancing his original prowess even more. His sharingan allowed him to partially see through the heavy fog to fix on his enemy's chakra. A shadow, movement, his target was near the stairs. Kakashi quickly started his chidori. It didn't need to be a powerful one, he didn't have to go through any walls or armor, just the wood bannisters, and the enemy's movements were surprisingly slow.

He stabbed her near the heart. The young woman was dying, but trying desperately to cling to life. She clutched her abdomen, rather than her chest. "My baby, save my baby, she's innocent..." she managed to implore before her life force ebbed away.

The young Anbu was stunned. '_A pregnant shinobi in action? How pregnant was she?'_ He didn't have a clue about stuff like that. At the Academy, they only taught first aid, how to remove cursed seals, set a broken leg, but nothing about being a midwife! But he knew he had to get it out before it died, too. He took out his kunai and cut into her abdominal area praying he wasn't cutting too deeply. Blood flowed out of her and all over him. He saw what he thought was the uterus and made another cut, carefully, until the amniotic sac burst and he knew he was through. He made a larger incision and groped around until he felt the head. He pulled the head out first, cleared away its nasal passages until he heard a strangled cry. Finally he pulled the entire baby out, tied and cut the umbilical cord. Now one of the other Anbu entered the room.

"Where...?" he called quietly.

"Check downstairs. I'm busy right now," Kakashi replied anxiously.

"But the mission..."

"You go!" Kakashi yelled desperately as he wiped the blood, and whatever gunk was on the infant, with the mother's robes. The baby started to cry. He tore some clean material from the body to swaddle the baby.

"You have to silence it ...or we'll never leave here alive," his comrade advised coldly.

"No...I've got to..." More Anbu entered the room as Kakashi ran off. He abandoned his mission. The baby seemed to be close to term. It breathed on its own, and was now luckily and strangely quiet, as if it knew its life depended on its silence.

Kakashi ran for 2 days without sleep, stopping only for water at brief intervals, until he reached Hidden Leaf Village. His chakra was completely depleted by then and he was running purely on adrenaline by the time he reached Dr. Otori's house.

-...-...-...-End of Part 3-...-...-...-

_Author's Notes: Ok, that was twist#1, more to follow. Next up, more on Kakashi's mission and its repercussions. And find out what's in Rikako's notebooks._

**Blanket Disclaimer** applicable to all chapters: I do not own "Naruto" which is a creation by Masashi Kishimoto, though I wished I owned Kakashi as my love slave! I do not make any money off any of the stories I write using Naruto characters. I do own my original characters Otori Rikako, her parents, and teammates.


	28. KKT 4 The Truth of the Past

_Author's Notes: I'm a big fan of "Rashomon" and the technique where the same events are told from different characters' perspective. The next couple of chapters go back in time to revisit some of the previous events from my OC's POV. I tried not to be redundant so the reader might need to got back to previous chapters to see how things correlate._

_To readers who have skipped ahead to the other stories in this series: Sorry, but the second story "Kakashi's Stolen Sharingan" was originally posted with this one so when I started the rewrite it got deleted. It is available on my site but will be rewritten as soon as I'm finished with this. This rewrite is nearly 3x longer than the original and has taken me much longer than expected. I don't think the next 3 rewrites will taken as long, but you never know once you start writing._

**PART IV The Truth of the Past**

_**4.1 The Mission**_

It was already late when she received the summons. Her husband would be there waiting for her. But these days it was difficult for her to move and she had to struggle into her outdoor clothes. It had not been an easy pregnancy. '_This little one will be rambunctious._' The dark haired-dark eyed young woman smiled to herself then made her way as quickly as she could to the Raikage's compound.

The spy was tied to the chair, tortured to near unconsciousness, but had revealed no information. The pregnant shinobi touched the man's bloody face, and concentrated her chakra into her fingertips. The tendrils of green chakra entered the man's mind through the orifices of his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Her pupils expanded until even the whites of her eyes disappeared, ready to receive the man's thoughts in electromagnetic waves. His mind was soon in her grip, and she began to slice and dice, extracting his memories.

Hidden Cloud Jounin Maindo Midori had been summoned by the Raikage to interrogate the spy despite her condition. She was the only one who had mind powers developed enough to penetrate the mind blocks of the Leaf Anbu. After years of isolation, confinement, and training, she had reached the pinnacle of her powers. But despite her elite standing, her kind had always been feared and reviled, more than any other advanced bloodline. After all, invasion of the mind was akin to invasion of the soul. But still they were necessary when countries were at war and espionage was all important.

It was not something she enjoyed doing, penetrating someone's most private thoughts, but the secrets of Hidden Leaf Village would give Thunder Country an advantage in the war. And if the Leaf had someone like her, they'd use her the same way. It was an unpleasant duty and sometimes the side effects were…bad. All the memories, both pleasant and terrible came to her. She had to focus and filter, concentrate on what was relevant. But still the man's innermost fears and desires, hopes and dreams, secrets and lies, leaked through.

Her husband was with her, concerned about her condition he insisted on overseeing the interrogation. His head cocked, a faint rustle of movement upstairs. He had the power to concentrate his chakra to any of his five senses and during the interrogation he had decided to keep an ear out for any trouble. "Proceed with the mind stripping," he said, "I'll go investigate."

A minute later, a ruckus was now clearly audible. She was done with her interrogation and had recovered a lot of good information before the spy's mind collapsed. '_The Raikage will be pleased. Now to help out upstairs...'_

A dark shadow amidst white chakra…a powerful enemy. Midori elected to use a cloud cover to obscure her presence. She knew she was in no condition to fight. Instead she planned to escape via the underground tunnels. The room filled with darkness…but then a bright flash…

She knew she was dying. He had missed her heart directly, but the concentration of chakra was pervading her body. '_Not yet…'_ she thought, '_just a little longer_.' She performed a last seal, and put all her concentration and will to force the remaining chakra she had into the fetus. _'Remember me little one, remember your mother and father, remember their murderer, avenge us when you can.'_ She fixed her eyes on the masked shinobi. An animal mask, a Leaf Anbu, but this one had a strange red eye. She whispered before she died, "My baby, save my baby, she's innocent..."

She could no longer speak, but her last thoughts, "_Die you bastard! My daughter will avenge us. She will have double the chakra and will defeat the Hokage himself!" _echoed in the mind of the unborn child.

The Leaf Anbu team recovered their agent, but it was too late. His mind had been ripped to shreds. He was little more than a vegetable, but even in his near comatose state, he continued to have violent nightmares. The shinobi medics tried different seals to repair his mind, but none was effective. In the end his body and mind gave up and the name of another one of Kakashi's comrades was engraved on the shinobi memorial. A few months later, their espionage at a standstill, the Thunder and Fire Countries signed a peace treaty and the incident was ignored, for the most part.

_Author's Notes: Originally the name was Maruyama Midori not Maindo Midori. But I changed it to have the name mean something more relevant. __Maindo means mind ._

_-...-...-...-...-...-_

_**4.2 The Beginning**_

"What should we name her?" Rika asked her husband as she held the baby in her arms, bouncing her up and down and cooing at her.

"Well, let's give her a name to make sure she knows she's part of the family. How about Rikako?" he suggested. _(Rikako means child of Rika, or using different kanji, same pronunciation, it can mean divided/separated, child of fire.) _The former Anbu medic added to himself,_ 'My penance, for all those I have killed. I will raise this child as my own and teach her to respect life. I will protect her no matter what,' _he vowed.

"Hmm, okay, Rikako it is!" his wife agreed, happy to have a child at last.

For the first month the baby slept and nursed from a wet nurse, building up her strength. But after the second month, the crying became a constant. Before she turned two, the framed baby pictures flew off the dresser and smash into the walls. The glass swirled around, cutting her exposed arms and legs. When she turned three, the windows shattered. This time the lacerations were deep enough to require stitches.

The doting mother gradually became bitter. Worn down not only from lack of sleep, but also from the frequent nightmares. Whatever dreams the child was having were also affecting her. Her husband, who was a trained shinobi, did not seem to be affected. He ignored her complaints and treated the child as normal, even spoiling her. But she was not normal and Rika was certain that in time they would regret taking her in. They knew nothing about the child except for what Kakashi had told them, that he found her during a mission and was afraid the baby would perish. Who knew what kind of shinobi were being bred in Thunder Country, maybe ones like that monstrous brat Naruto.

Like many living in Konoha, Rika had not had an easy life. Her entire family, including her husband and infant daughter, were killed in Kyuubi's attack. As the sole survivor, she had no one and nothing. Her home was destroyed and she had nowhere to go. She ended up marrying the shinobi medic who tended to her wounds, not because of love, but a need for security. She had wanted to start a new life and a new family, but after a couple of years of trying, it seemed there would be no family other than her husband and herself. So when the young jounin appeared with a newborn baby in his arms, she instinctively saw it as a sign. The child would be hers and she would lavish all the love and attention on it that she would have on her own deceased child.

But Rikako was not a normal child. She did not seek love and attention like other children. She was cold and judgmental. She started to speak when she was one and was able to hold intelligible conversations when she was two. As soon as she could express herself she would complain about her food, her bath, just about everything was not good enough or not done fast enough or not to her satisfaction. By the time she was four she was able to read, able to argue, and able to take care of herself. She did not need Rika at all.

-…-…-…-…-

Rikako reached self-awareness, self-consciousness, at 4 and a half years of age. Suddenly, everything became clear. Ever since she could remember, there were always voices in her head, even when she was sleeping. Now she understood they were the voices of the people around her. Not just their conscious thoughts, but also snippets of buried resentments and sorrow, nightmares and dreams. They were jumbled up, vying for her attention. She couldn't stand to be around people. And physical contact made things even worse.

But now she understood and it made sense, and she could do something about it. Her father started teaching her chakra control while her mother taught her meditation techniques. They also gave her sleeping draughts. All this to hopefully help her sleep through the night. They did not know of her powers but just thought she had bad nightmares which caused her to leak chakra.

Knowing what people thought made her cynical. At this age she formed the opinion that most people were selfish, petty, cruel and quite stupid. They also lied about everything. They lied to be nice; they lied out of envy; they lied to protect others and themselves. Her parents lied to their patients to offer comfort. And they lied to her. People lied all the time, everyday of their lives, but that was the only way to survive, the only way to appear normal. People didn't really want to know what you thought and they only wanted to hear what they wished to hear. She didn't realize that negative emotions were stronger and more easily picked up than the softer tender feelings of love and affection.

The thoughts kept coming and she started to keep a record of them, curious to see what they meant and who they belonged to. She wrote them down in her notebook, in her own code so no one else would understand. It wasn't really a code per se, but a simple shorthand masked by bad handwriting. She protected the notebook with seals she learned from her father who used them to protect confidential medical records. One was to make the writing invisible until it was infused with her chakra. The other caused a chakra shock to the unauthorized viewer.

She could hear her mother's thoughts, her worries, her fear of her, her tentative love. Her father did not think so deeply about his emotions or the events around him. Things were as they were and he took everything in stride. His thoughts were usually on his patients. But she knew that they were not her true parents and that they would give her up if they could. The realization of these facts might have driven a normal child to tears. But instead it gave her a purpose. She would one day find out the truth, the complete truth, no matter what.

-…-…-…-…-…-

After a few months, the chakra control and meditation techniques seemed to help. She was now able to filter the thoughts and to focus in on a single person. The presence of people no longer bothered her and she joined her father in the office. It was interesting, not just the medical aspects or the jutsus, but also the patients themselves. Few came to the doctor in good spirits, they were usually in some sort of pain, and pain made people interesting.

One day, a boy her age came in with a broken arm and bruises. His parents said he fell from a tree. She immediately knew they were lying. His father in a fit of anger had beaten him.

"Liar!" she screamed, pointing at the father, "You hit him, you nearly killed him!" The man and his wife turned pale.

"What do you mean? How can you say that!" said the woman.

"That's enough Rikako, you'll have to leave the office," her father ordered.

"But daddy, I know he's lying!" she protested.

"And how do you now that?" he asked with an undertone of suspicion.

"I...I...I don't know," she said resignedly. She couldn't tell him the truth. Her parents already had doubts about her. This would push them over the edge. They wouldn't want a child who could read their minds. "He just looks mean."

"Hmmf, some people say I look mean, but have I ever hit you?" her father asked her.

She shook her head, "No daddy, I'm sorry." She was forced to leave the room, but she stayed by the door. She couldn't hear what they were saying so she focused on their thoughts. The father was fearful of discovery. The mother was concerned for her son. The boy was in pain. He loved but feared his father. She decided to try projecting her thoughts.

"If I ever find you hurting your family again, I'll come after you. You know I can destroy your mind. If you tell anyone, I'll know."

They never saw that family again - presumably they switched family practitioners.

-...-...-...-...-

_Author's notes: I now know telepathy is a common advanced bloodline used in (Mary-Sue) fanfics, but I didn't know that when I wrote this 1.5 years ago. However, there will be limits to her powers, a gradual increase and then a plummet in the course of this series._

-...-...-...-...-

_**4.3 The Academy**_

"Daddy, I want to be a shinobi too, just like you were. Can you take me to the academy? I want to see what it's like there," Rikako asked her father while putting on her please-please-puppy-dog-look that included softening her large dark eyes.

"Being a shinobi is not fun and games. It's serious business. People die all around you," her father replied curtly.

"But you were a shinobi medic," she countered.

"Yes, and I had to kill more people than I saved," his face furrowed in regret.

"We're not at war anymore," she rationalized.

"No, but things happen. Who knows how long these treaties will last," he sighed.

"But there are always the wounded. Someone has to save them," she argued persistently.

"Why don't you just be a regular village doctor. That's just as good you know."

"But what about the seals and chakra control you've been teaching me?"

"That's just stuff to know. You don't have to be a shinobi to do it."

"But...

"That's enough. End of discussion."

-…-…-…-…-

She wanted, needed to be a shinobi. That was the only way to understand her powers, the only way to develop them and test them. Right now her powers were still erratic. She could only pick up on strong thoughts and emotions at short range now that the filters were in place. She had encountered very few shinobi in her life other than her father. They rarely needed a village doctor as they had their own medics. But she noticed that they were much harder to read, probably because they were less emotional.

Of course, she did want to be a shinobi medic and save lives like her father. Even though she held a low opinion of people in general, she felt shinobi were different, or at least they should be different. They stood for a noble cause, sacrificing their lives to protect the village.

She just needed to find out what was required to enroll in the academy, and how to do it without her parents' consent. One day after lunch, she told her parents she was going to spend the afternoon in the yard gardening, meditating and practicing her chakra control. It was a busy day so she knew they wouldn't miss her. It was about 2 miles to the academy. If she walked quickly she should make it there and back well before dinner. Her parents were going to be furious, but what else was new? They knew how stubborn she was, how she always got what she wanted (usually by playing them against each other, she didn't need special powers for that).

The little girl walked along the main road, and thought her usual thoughts. '_Who am I? Who are my real parents? Why can I hear the thoughts of others? How can I find out? What will I do once I reach the academy? Maybe they have a library. You can always_ find answers _in books. Maybe I can find someone to help me…'_

There were more academy buildings than she realized. There was a large one with a fire symbol and another with the nin symbol, and several smaller buildings. She wandered around a bit to get her bearings, when a young adult shinobi with his hair tied back in a neat ponytail approached her.

Rikako smiled and listened attentively during Iruka's tour and description of the academy._ 'Iruka-sensei seems really nice, not wary at all. He's perfect,' _she thought. She asked him questions about the registration process.

"Well, your parents need to fill out an application. Then there's an interview with your parents and another with you to make sure it's something you want, and not just your parents' wishes," he answered pleasantly.

"Do both my parents have to be interviewed? My dad is always busy."

"No, just your mom is fine." '_She's lucky_,' Iruka thought, '_so many children have only one parent or none at all.'  
_  
"Is it a long interview?"

"Usually not, about 10 minutes. We have a lot of students and parents to interview, after all."

At the library she perused the texts for first and second year students looking for something that would help her in her quest to be a shinobi and for something that could possibly explain her powers. There wasn't much on mind techniques in the first and second year texts except for an explanation of genjutsu, which apparently was for more advanced shinobi, and just general examples of types of mind techniques like mind transfer or mind confusion. There was no practical information where she could learn the seals or about the history. '_Must be a clan secret or something_,' she surmised. The texts just had the basic non-secret techniques like bunshin, kawarimi, and henge. That last one was the key.

On the way back she asked Iruka about the type of techniques the students would learn. He mentioned a few, including the transformation technique.

"What does that mean?" she asked innocently.

"Well, it means I can change my appearance to look like someone else."

"Wow, that one sounds really interesting. Can you show me?" she asked giving him the please-puppy-look.

"Sure," Iruka transformed into the librarian.

She laughed and clapped her hands like a regular little girl, "Again! Again, please!"

He transformed into the Hokage.

"Wow, how long can you stay like that?"

"Well, it depends on how much chakra you have and how much control. I could probably hold it for about 20 minutes."

"Can you change into something bigger or smaller?"

"Yes, but of course that's more difficult and requires more chakra to maintain." He turned into a rabbit, then a horse. She laughed excitedly and clapped again, encouraging the naïve chuunin to continue.

-…-…-…-…-

For 2 years she practiced until she perfected the transformation technique. She had to build up enough chakra to be able to hold the transformation for at least 20 minutes she estimated. But not only that, she had to have the same mannerisms and speech as her mother. She observed her parent and secretly imitated her, which wasn't hard, all she had to do was act tired and annoyed all the time.

Her plan proceeded smoothly at registration and her parents' reaction to her act was as expected, fury then acceptance. She got her way again, as usual.

Rika set out a new set of clothes for her daughter's first day, a pretty pink dress with embroidered trim. She also offered to braid her hair nicely. Rikako refused both. "I don't want to wear anything new. I don't want to stand out and you always braid my hair too tight."

"But don't you want to make a good impression on your first day? And the way you braid your hair is too loose. Your hair always gets in your eyes, so why braid it at all? Why not just cut your hair short?"

"I like my hair long, but I don't want to look like I care about it. And I don't care about making a good impression with my looks, I'll be using my brain." '_Long hair makes me look cuter. Cute kids are treated better by their peers and adults,'_ she thought to herself.

"You're just seven and already impossible!" Rika gave up and left her daughter alone to do whatever she wanted.

Her mother didn't understand. She never did. She was just a civilian and didn't know what it took to be a shinobi. Rikako looked at herself in the mirror and bowed to her reflection. She found that if she bowed, people wouldn't notice her eyes. She had a bad habit of rolling her eyes when she was annoyed, which was quite often. Also, her pupils enlarged when she used her mind powers. Adults like the bowing and felt she was a well behaved respectful and mature child. If they had known what she was really thinking, they would have been quite shocked and insulted most of the time.

_'I must keep my temper in check_,' she thought. That was always hard for her. When she was a toddler, she threw tantrums that lasted on average of three hours, crying and screaming until her parents gave in just to get some peace and quiet. As she grew older, she realized that expended too much energy and it was more effective and efficient to be smart, to manipulate them into doing what she wanted. Not that she wanted much. Her needs were very simple. Usually what she wanted was the freedom to make her own decisions. When her mother wanted her to wear this or do that, it wasn't because she didn't want to wear this or do that, but there was no choice involved and it was being able to choose that was important. It was the same with her decision to attend the academy.

_'If I smile as much as possible, I can stop myself from showing anger or annoyance.'_ She also found that by smiling and laughing, she could get away with thinly veiled insults that might otherwise offend. That relieved her frustration, which could otherwise turn to a raging torrent of epithets that she learned from her ex-Anbu father.

_'I must be careful not to use my powers too often or stand out while at the academy. If I stay in the background, not say too much or too little, shoot for average or a bit better than that, I should be okay_.'

_'Who or what am I? Since I don't know, I can be anyone I want. I will be whatever I need to be to find out._ _I will play this part until I achieve my goal,'_ she resolved to herself.

Intelligent as she was, she was still a child. A child's mind is simpler, where things are black and white. Her parents were liars, period, they would not tell her the truth. It's a child's prerogative to be selfish, to demand and take things without asking. It never occurred to her to just ask.

-...-...-...-...-...-

_Excerpts from Rikako's Diary_

…Iruka-sensei was our first teacher. He looks about the same as I remember. I think he's really handsome and nice! So glad he's one of our teachers :)

…First day at school was soooooooooo boring! Most of the stuff the teachers are teaching I already know from my books and my parents. But I did have fun observing and taking notes on my classmates. (_Row 1, seat 4, guy with short spiky black hair, pays attention and nods his head each time the teacher asks a rhetorical question. Row 5, seat 1, guy with long brown hair fell asleep. Row 1, seat 5, girl with short pink hair, kisses up to the teachers. Row 2, seat 3, guy with cap, asked the most questions. Row 3, seat 6, girl with long brown hair in a ponytail, answered the most questions_.)

...I need to sharpen my observational skills. I don't want to use my mind reading power. It's erratic and difficult to filter and focus. I may not be able to control my power and who knows if the power is permanent. In the medical texts, all sorts of conditions exist that are only temporary…

…This stupid bully grabbed my notebook today. He got a nice shock, hah! Deserved it, stupid idiot! But then I noticed everyone looking at me, especially Iruka sensei. I don't want to stand out or be different than anyone else. I'll have to put away my notebook during recess and play with the other children. I hate kids and their stupid games! Total waste of time...

…There's some cocky kids in the class, always trying to prove they're the best. I don't want to be noticed or be the best. Being the best is a burden. People will always come up to you for a challenge. They will expect more than you can ever give and if you fail, there is no sympathy. If you're smart, you would downplay your skills until you really need them. But sometimes I can't help but show off just a little like when a teacher won't continue a lesson until someone can answer the question or do the technique. Such a waste of time to listen to guesses or watch pathetic attempts. Then I feel I have to step in so the class can continue…

…Umino Iruka…Umino Rikako, Umino Otori Rikako, definitely has a nice ring to it. He's so nice and funny! He's the best teacher. He makes lessons fun and interesting. He actually listens to the kids when they talk. Most of the other senseis only pretend to listen. And he's always asking after my parents and how I'm doing. I like the scar on his nose. I think it gives him character. I want to marry him when I grow up! (_All "i"s were dotted with hearts.)_

_-...-...-...-...-_

_**4.4 Rikako's Powers**_

Rikako carefully did well on her tests, and made sure she was one of the better students. Though she could have aced most of the written exams, she did not want to be the top student in anything. Come graduation time, she had to make a decision. Is she ready to be a genin? That would require a lot of enforced training time and much less book time and free time she could spend doing her own training. She decided to stay a year behind on purpose. Her decision was partly based on the chuunin selection exams where she would have to compete against former classmates. Most take two years before being nominated to take the chuunin exams. Rookies were rare. If she stayed an extra year in the academy, she would know more of the participants, thereby improving her chances if she had to compete against them. Also, she would have access to information from strategically positioned upperclassmen. But there was another reason. Kakashi sensei would not be available to take on a new genin team until the following year.

She knew her parents weren't her real parents. That much she knew since the beginning. But she could not find out from reading their conscious minds who her real parents were. It wasn't until after a few years at the academy that she discovered by touching someone with chakra, the contact increased her powers. One night when her father was out on an emergency, she tried it on her mother while she was sleeping. Rikako placed her hand lightly on her mother's face. She concentrated on what she needed to know. Her mother's body twisted uncomfortably beneath her hand. There was nothing, nothing but a faint memory of a night visit by a young shinobi who looked like Hatake Kakashi, one of the top jounin of Konoha. Her surprise broke contact and her mother woke.

Suddenly seeing her daughter standing over her, with her eyes completely black, frightened her and she let out a gasp. "What are you doing here?" Rika demanded.

"Mama, I had a bad dream, I just wanted to be with you." She gave her mother her scared-puppy look.

But her mother didn't believe it. Her daughter was 10 years old, had nightmares for years, and she never came to her like this. '_A headache, I have such a headache_.' She let Rikako stay in bed with her, but she didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

Rikako was patient, very patient when it came to getting what she wanted. She waited a year before trying her powers on her father who she knew was more resistant to mind probes as having been with the Anbu. Her father was sick, one of those rare times despite being exposed to sick people on a daily basis. Her mother had given him a sleeping draught and returned to manning the office. Rikako was helping out but luckily things were slow. When it was time for her to prepare lunch, she decided to try out her powers on her father. Her hand touched his forehead. Her green chakra tendrils seeped into his orifices. Her mind scanned his mind. Even in his unconscious, weakened state, there was resistance. She concentrated harder. The same scene as her mother's, there was no more. _But he must know more_! She pressed harder. Suddenly there's a grip on her wrist - her father woke up!

"What are you doing?" He was furious and fearful at the same time.

"I…I was just checking your temperature. Your fever has gone down," she explained nervously. She didn't expect him to wake so soon.

Her father let the incident pass, but his wariness and suspicions grew. He remembered how Rika mentioned something similar. A feeling of unease, a headache, and Rikako standing there, her eyes completely black. He hardly knew anything about this child, not who her parents were, only that Kakashi had found her during his last mission to Thunder Country. He suspected she had special powers, but in truth, he did not want to know what they were. If they were what he now suspected, he would have to report it to the Hokage. Mind reading jutsus were expressly forbidden. There were very few who could use such techniques in the first place. Only those born with an innate predilection could focus their minds so acutely. Otori recalled the rumors of mind seekers from Hidden Cloud Village and shuddered. The old Hokage was a kindly man, but the advisors would not be so understanding. She was his only child and he had an obligation to protect her, no matter what.

-…-…-…-

_**4.5 Kakashi and the Genin Team**_

_Excerpts from Rikako's Diary_

…There are women who come into my father's office for abortions, unwanted babies. There are many unwanted kids, orphans, left to grow up alone, then adopted by the Shinobi Academy, easy recruits. I wonder if I'm one of those babies. Unwanted by some prostitute, or an orphan whose parents died in a battle or natural disaster. I wonder what my real parents were like. I think they must have been shinobi, or at least one parent. It seems Kakashi sensei brought me to the Otori's so he would know. Or maybe he just found me. I know I should be more appreciative of what my parents have done for me but for some reason…they just really annoy me! Always telling me what to do or what not to do. You would think after all these years they would give up, but the nagging and unsolicited advice never stops. Everything from my clothes, how I keep my room, how much I eat, like I didn't have a brain. I'll move out as soon as I make enough money. Another incentive to making chuunin ASAP!

…I was given my team assignment today. As expected Kakashi-sensei is in charge of my team. He must know about me. He's probably been assigned to keep an eye on me. I have to be extra careful around him. He was very late to our first meeting. I wonder what kept him. I hope it's not a habit, very annoying to have to wait for someone. Kakashi-sensei is weird, to put it politely. He has gray hair that sticks up like he hasn't brushed it in years. His left eye and the lower half of his face are covered. I wonder if he's missing an eye or if he's horribly disfigured. I asked my dad but he doesn't like to answer my questions, especially if it has to do with being a shinobi. He usually says "You'll find out soon enough" or "It doesn't matter" or It's none of your business" or some such combination. Kakashi sensei told us we'll have survival training tomorrow. I wonder what that is. I asked dad at dinner but he just said "You'll see."

…Kakashi-sensei was very very late again. I think it was on purpose this time. He gave us this test where we had to get a bell from him. But there were 3 of us and only 2 bells. The test conditions didn't make sense, but I took a gamble and got my teammates to work together. My teammates, Kenji and Takeo, are rather simple minded and uncomplicated, easily manipulated. Kenji is a bit of a bully and Takeo is completely apathetic but I shouldn't have any problems with them. It doesn't matter who is on my team as long as they don't get in my way. Takeo's trap worked and we were able to get the bells, and I was right about it being a test of teamwork. Kakashi-sensei made it harder to cooperate by saying only 2 people would pass. Very sneaky, quite impressive. Kakashi-sensei seems to be obsessed with the shinobi memorial. He spaced out for a while during our training. He said his best friend's name was on the memorial. Kenji asked some rather personal questions. I wanted to know the answers to those too, but Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem like the type to talk much about himself. Maybe we'll find out later…

…I ran into Anzu today. Sarutobi Asuma is her sensei. She told me he takes his team out to eat all the time! Kakashi-sensei just disappears after our training sessions or missions. I also saw Tomoyo who is under Yuuhi Kurenai sensei. She told me Kurenai-sensei visits each of their parents at home for a conference and she does that on a regular basis to keep their parents informed of their progress! I had to convince Kakashi sensei to visit my parents, emphasizing the teamwork crap he's so big on. Then he showed up so late, dinner was almost over and he had the nerve to ask for a doggie bag! He's only friendly with Takeo's mom so he can get a discount at the bookstore and to Kenji's parents so he can get free meals. I think we have the worse sensei!

…Kakashi is absolutely the worst sensei! I can barely force myself to call him sensei. What kind of teacher shows up late all the time, reads adult books in front of minors, and pays no attention to us during training and missions? It's been a month and he's still like that. I thought he was testing us, but he is really irresponsible! I really want to teach him a lesson. If I can get the guys to go along with my plan tomorrow it should be interesting to see how he responds. I miss Iruka sensei. He was such a better teacher! Much nicer. Such a sweetie. I hear he's getting married soon. Lucky girl! If I find out who she is, I might kunai her!

…Ok, this means war! Damn hypocrite got all upset at us for being late! Made us train twice as long as usual with no breaks! I can't let this go. I have to get back at him. I've been holding my temper in for a month now. I need another plan.

Top 10 reasons why Kakashi sucks!

1.He plays favorites. (I think he likes Takeo best because they're both lazy! And Takeo doesn't bug him with questions. But probably because his mom works at Pink's bookstore.)

2.He's weird. (We never see him eat or drink anything! It's like that mask is permanently attacked to his face. Hmm, maybe it is.)

3.He's irresponsible. (Takeo nearly fell off a cliff the other day. Kakashi didn't notice!)

4.He's lazy. (He never does anything during the missions. We do all the work!)

5.He's cheap. (He never offers to take us out to lunch, nothing!)

6.He's always late. (This is the worst! So much time wasted! DRIVES ME NUTS!)

7.He gives pathetic excuses. (Bad enough that he's late, he doesn't even have the creativity to come up with a believable excuse.)

8.He reads PORN. (Pervert!)

9.He reads PORN IN PUBLIC. (Open pervert!)

10.He reads PORN IN PUBLIC IN FRONT OF MINORS! (Open pervert with extremely bad judgment!)

…I visited Kenji's parents at the dumpling restaurant and Takeo's mom at the bookstore. I casually implied how much Kakashi sucks and how their sons were never going to be successful as shinobis under such an abysmal teacher. They were all willing to sign the scroll. I told them my parents wrote it. I told my parents that Kenji's dad wrote it (had to disguise my handwriting a bit). My parents were very happy to sign the complaint. I think they want me to switch sensei. Now that I have all the signatures I'll send it to the Hokage post haste. Hah! Take that Kakashi, stupid idiot lazy bastard!

…I've been waiting for the repercussions from that complaint, but apparently Kakashi took it quite well. He didn't mention it at all. He was actually almost on time today. He didn't make us do extra training or anything. His book is now wrapped in brown paper. But I don't trust him. Maybe he's planning something big. We'd better be careful.

…I've been observing him more closely. He's smarter than he looks or acts. He actually is paying attention to us most of the time. I notice that he reads the same page for hours, which probably means he's not really reading his book at all but using it as a prop. I wonder if covering his eye and face are just props too. I wonder if his is an assumed persona, part of an effort to deceive his opponents, interesting.

...Kakashi still doesn't give much direction to our team. He's way too easygoing and prefers to let us figure out stuff for ourselves. Like the lesson on chakra control - he just let the boys run at the tree! Like that would work! I had to intercede otherwise they'd be wasting time and injuring themselves unnecessarily. He should tell them chakra control is all in the mind. A calm mind can direct chakra where it's needed. Luckily, the boys are willing to listen my suggestions. I think I'm a MUCH better teacher than Kakashi.

…I'm getting annoyed with the boys trying to ask me out. It's not like they come right out and say "I like you, how about we go out sometime." It's always like "if you're not busy later, maybe we could…" So I always say I am busy! I'm trying to make it clear I am NOT interested in any social relationships. Total waste of time. I'm trying to treat my teammates equally because they're equally as annoying! It's a tough balancing act. If one of them invites me out, I have to include the other one and be all nice to both of them. What I really feeling like doing half the time is manipulating them to beat the hell out of each other. But there's no fun in that since the gorilla (_Kenji_) would wipe the floors with the sloth (_Takeo_).

...What kind of guy do I want? I want one whom I don't need to mind read to know what he's thinking or feeling. I want someone who can express himself in words and actions. I want someone truly nice and normal, a genuinely good person. I really miss Iruka sensei. Why isn't he strong enough to be a jounin? It shouldn't just be about jutsus. Just because you know a lot of them doesn't make you a good teacher. You have to be able to convey the information and adjust your teaching style depending on your student. Which is why Kakashi sucks!

...Things are going pretty well. I think I like my teammates and Kakashi more than I expected, but they are still annoying more often than not. I was originally concerned that Kenji would be too pushy, but he's confident and not overly arrogant. Takeo's pretty nice but he needs to build confidence and a backbone. I'm very interested in learning about trap design from him. Too bad he's so lazy. He's smarter that he looks. Kenji is very strong and can uproot a tree, but not too bright. I need to help strengthen their weaknesses so we can pass the chuunin exams, but be sure I can defeat either one myself if I had to. I know that to be a chuunin means working together as a team and to be a team leader. But I think relationships, even friendships, make things too complicated, despite what Kakashi thinks. Who knows, what if I have to sacrifice one of them in a mission someday. I would feel worse if we were friends. Otherwise they'd just be like appendages, useful necessary parts of the mission, but can be cut off so that the mission could continue.

…Kakashi's gone back to being late all the time. He was good for a couple of months. It's such a waste of time just waiting. I think we should do something more constructive. Will have to talk to the guys about maybe working on some traps…

-...-...-...-...-...-

Rikako's regular training schedule whenever possible:

Wake at 7, washup dress, have breakfast

8-9 meditation/chakra control

9-10 taijutsu

10-11 ninjuts/genjutsu

11-12 combination of all 3 in mock battle situation

12-1 lunch

1-3 research at the library

3-4 taijutsu

4-5 ninjutsu/genjutsu

5-6 combination of all 3 in mock battle

6-8 dinner and chores

8-9 chakra control/mediation

9-11 reading

11 preparation for bed

-...-...-...-...-...-

...I'm now in Wave Country on our first C mission. Quite exciting! There's some very interesting foliage here - lots of mangrove trees which are one of the few plants that can live in salt water… Kakashi made a funny joke while traveling about how Kenji and Takeo bickered like an old married couple. Ha! Ha! Sometimes he's really funny…

...We learned a bit about Kakashi's previous team. Seems this Naruto character was very impressive and this Sasuke's a missing-nin. Will have to do some research on them…and find out about the girl Sakura who doesn't seem to be as interesting…This is our first overnight mission. I'm going to try to read Kakashi's mind through the walls while he's sleeping but I'm not sure if it will work. I don't expect much except maybe some general impressions. If only I can touch his forehead or face...

...Damn, it didn't work! He woke up! I think the problem is that he has no passion, no strong feelings so he's much harder to read. Even in my daily default mode he doesn't raise a blip on my radar. I can't try it again. Too risky. I have to think of another way to get close to him. But his entire body is covered in clothes, gloves, mask, there's hardly any exposed skin that I can accidentally brush up against just to get a glimmer of what kind of person he truly is. I've tried asking him all sorts of ethical questions to see how he responds, but he usually avoids answering them or he gives me a noncommittal answer. All these months and we hardly know anything about him. I have to know more, to decide what I can do to find the truth. This is one tough mission! Was too wired and frustrated to get much sleep. I'm afraid poor Tsunami-san was affected. I really have to better control my temper and this chakra…

...This power that I have, that manifested today, this surge of chakra. Kakashi thinks it was because of the chakra amplification amulet that I attained the speed necessary to defeat the three Rain shinobis. But it wasn't that exactly. I didn't use my special senbons. I froze in fright and suddenly my head started pounding and my green chakra started leaking. I couldn't control it. Actually I didn't want to control it or hold it in. The air became oppressive and it seemed that the molecules of air were vibrating. I'm not sure what happened but the three of them clutched their heads in pain and suddenly their heads just exploded. Maybe my chakra was amplified, but what would cause their heads to explode like that? Is it a special power I have? I must find out my origins, no matter what. I have let my resolve slip lately, but I must think of a way to get that information from Kakashi. That woman, our target, she was a kunoichi. She was willing to sacrifice her body to get what she wanted. I have to consider that option. There are only two ways to get close enough to Kakashi to extract the information. Either get close enough using sex, or strong enough to defeat him. The latter I think is preferable, but that may be more difficult. Gatou the shipping magnate, that Rain kunoichi, they were willing to do whatever it took to achieve their goals. I need to think like that. But they were sort of evil and I'm just after the truth. There's a difference, isn't there?

...I've been thinking, and studying him. That eye of his, I don't know exactly how it works. It might detect my powers if I try using it near him. But he's the one who knows about me. This regular training with my teammates seems so useless when I know I have this greater power within me. Somehow I must learn to harness it and use it, preferably not to kill, but just to knock out the enemy. I'm too afraid to try it until I know more. I don't want to accidentally kill someone. I've seen enough splattered brains to last a lifetime. I must be patient.

…Did some research on Kakashi's former genin. That poor boy, Naruto, with a demon inside him. The horrible thoughts some people had about him. Such fear and hatred. People are so cruel. I wonder if I have a demon inside me. But there are no special seals or marks on my body that I can see. I must find out.

…Kakashi's been nice to us lately. He's been trying to teach us some more jutsu. Even paid for lunch, but it was just at Ichiraku, least expensive place in town, cheap bastard! And he didn't eat anything. He's also been on time lately and paying more attention to us, rather than his book, during missions and training. Maybe he's been feeling guilty about that C mission. We could all be dead. It wasn't really his fault, but if feeling guilty gets him to act more responsibly and show up on time, best to take advantage of it.

…Kakashi was trying to be nice to me and asked if there were something wrong and why I wasn't training as hard as usual. Made him feel guiltier by saying nothing just staring at him and sighing. Yes, the C mission was eye opening, but I've seen death, people dying before. My father is a doctor after all. Still, he was surprisingly considerate to ask. I wonder if he really does care about us as individuals.

…Got my chuunin exam application today. Very excited! If we make it to the third exam, we should be getting some one-on-one training with Kakashi. I might be able to get close enough to get a reading on him.

...Took the first chuunin exam today. It was very interesting. The examiner Morino Ibiki is the special interrogator of the Anbu. He has these hideous scars that he apparently sustained from various missions. I wonder why he doesn't wear a mask. I wonder if Kakashi has scars like that. Ibiki sensei really enjoyed giving us the first exam. I could sense his feelings of power and control. A real sadist. I took a peek at Kenji's mind and saw he wasn't doing well so I gave his mind a push in the right direction, simple and effective. Takeo was doing ok. The questions were hard but I managed to work out most of them on my own. Still it was annoying not getting all of them. I wanted to wipe that smug look off Ibiki-sensei's face so I did some quick mind scans. It's much easier when people are so focused, unlike the usual drabble of thoughts. Found a couple of genin who had all the answers and they appeared to be all correct, at least the answers matched the ones I had, so I copied the remaining two questions I wasn't sure of. Turned out that they were planted by Ibiki sensei to test our espionage skills. Then it turned out that none of them counted. Only the tenth question mattered. Very impressive and sneaky! I have to respect that. Morino Ibiki, would like to do some research on him. Maybe I'll ask my dad.

…I hate fighting, unless it's the last resort. I don't understand the competitive nature apparent in so many shinobi. It's smarter to be subtle and defeat your enemy indirectly. For the second exam, I convinced a couple of teams to go along with my alliance plan. With my mind powers I was able to scout out which teams to draw into our traps. Kakashi probably won't be happy with our strategy. He'll think his team is best at running away and avoiding fights. But why fight if you don't have to? That just increases your chances of injury and death and I must be careful until I reach my goal.

…I drew a Cloud shinobi as my opponent in the finals. Soooo NOT happy! I don't know anything about them. And then stupid Kakashi refused to train me for the finals! He's training the guys. Damn all boys clubs! Kunoichi discrimination! Maybe he's gay and likes little boys. Damn pervert! But dad's a better teacher than Kakashi anyway. Hell, the TV is a better teacher than Kakashi!

…Dad's been teaching me lots of jutsu including some fire ones. Kakashi never taught us any fire jutsu. Probably because he refuses to remove his mask and fire jutsu require exhalation from the mouth. I learned some water jutsu from Kakashi, but I HATE water jutsu. It usually means getting wet and I HATE feeling wet or damp, hate that clinging sensation of wet clothes. I hate feeling water on my face. I hate rainy days. And the more powerful water jutsu require a source of water, not always useful. I can do some less powerful water jutsu, which just require condensing the water vapor in the air or from my breath, but I think I prefer the earth and wind jutsu.

…I summoned my first bird today. I really like this technique. It's like always having an ally by your side. Don't know if I'll have it perfected in a month, so it's best not to rely on it for the finals. My dad also let me pick out a weapon. It's very cute! It looks like a silver baton but it expands to a double headed spear. Very cool! I love the deceptiveness of its size. An enemy won't realize my full reach until it's too late. Should be very handy for the finals.

…Dad's been talking more about being a shinobi. Apparently he was pretty high up in the Anbu, but got sick of all the death. I can see how death can wear you down. I'll retire too, before it gets to me. Kakashi's been a shinobi since he was five years old from what I figure (I heard he became chuunin at six). That's a quarter century ago! He must have seen many many deaths of both enemies and comrades especially since he was around during the last war. He must be pretty insensitive or rather desensitized. I don't want to be like that. Then again I didn't feel much when I killed those Rain-nin. Maybe I was born insensitive or maybe I've already become desensitized after being around the sick and dying who come to see my father. But maybe it's for the better. You can't let emotions get in the way of duty, whether it's a mission to protect Konoha or to help the sick.

…Dad's MUCH better about answering ethical questions than Kakashi. He actually takes the time to think about them seriously. Dad's a good person despite his gruff demeanor. Mom too, I guess, even if she's always cranky. I want to be good, but can I always make the right decision? And right is relative isn't it? I think the most important thing is to be able to live with your decision…

…I just need to win a couple of fights, enough to show off my skills. I'm a kunoichi so the grading should be easier for me. I will pass. I must. Passing the chuunin exams should finally get me some one-on-one time from Kakashi. I must be patient.

-…-…-End of Part 4-…-…-

_Author's Notes: Okay, this is not your typical romance. I know most people don't like OC stories but I wanted to develop a strong but morally ambivalent female character. Much as I love Naruto, the female characters as of ep 60 when I originally started writing this series are not as well developed or interesting or strong as the male characters. Most of the medical and chakra control ideas in this story were developed before I learned about Tsunade/Sakura. _

_I think the major points that I'm trying to get across about Rikako's character is though she apparently hates liars and hypocrites and likes good people, she's a liar and hypocrite herself and she's actually impressed by bad people, or rather by power and guile. These are important character aspects that come into play in later stories. _

_Next up: Part 5 - A Slow Seduction_

_There will be a total of 6 parts to this story which I hope to completely finish posting by the end of the year. _


	29. KKT 5 A Slow Seduction

_Author's Notes: I'm not usually one to complain about the lack of reviews (when I first started writing this I didn't even know sites like ffnet existed), but why is it that this story is on more favorites lists than it has reviews? Oh well, at least it seems some people are reading it and I hope you'll stick with the series till the end. _

_For those worried that the only reason my OC gets close to poor Kakashi is to read his mind, well...things are complicated..._

* * *

**PART V - A SLOW SEDUCTION**

_**5.1 Reversed Serendipity **_

Rikako had a stroke of luck when Kakashi entered her father's office with his injured genin.

The poor kid was really messed up and she was terribly concerned at first but Kakashi capably helped out with the operation so it proceeded smoothly. '_He probably could have been a real medic-nin if he had wanted to...' S_he thought ruefully about the need for both medics and soldiers. '_How nice it would be if only medics were necessary and no soldiers at all.' _

It was one of the most serious operations she had had to perform. So much blood, all over her, yet he had the audacity to say _"You've never looked more lovely…"_

His compliment flustered her as he had never complimented her looks before, though he had referred to her team back then as his cute genin. '_He was just being nice after I saved his new genin and his respective ass. But...oh crap!' _She suddenly realized, '_I'm practically naked!' _She berated herself as she noticed the outline of her nipples, the swell of her breasts and the valley in between, all clearly visible along with the cut of her underwear and tank top. _'I'm never wearing a thin robe ever again, no matter how hot it is! That pervert! Ugh!' _She had always been modest to a fault. While other kunoichi her age were flaunting their assets she kept hers covered up in public and had not deviated from her usual attire. She did not like men hitting on her, nor anyone staring at her.

She was still standing outside the door of the waiting room when the next thought struck her. _'Wait, this is my chance. The chance I've been waiting for all these years. It's time to put plan A into action. What a stroke of luck!' _

She closed her eyes and concentrated, planning to reach out to his mind to slip him a subliminal thought. But when she tentatively touched his mind with hers, she found he was already thinking of her, warm but sad thoughts. It was hard to see any clear images and it confused her, but that made it easier. He wouldn't notice an external presence. She slipped him three simple words: "I love her."

But it did not work out the way she planned. Instead of getting closer to him, he pushed her away. '_He must be gay! There's no other explanation. Why else would he push me away like that? It doesn't make sense. How could my plan not work? My subliminal suggestions always work! He must be gay!' _

She was furious that he ended their mentor relationship. Furious that she did not get what she wanted this time. So furious she was near tears, the first time since she was a toddler. As she walked away from her sensei of so many years, her mind started spinning its next web of deceit.

_'This means I must proceed to plan B, which is training with the intent to defeat him. That means I need a sensei who can defeat Kakashi and his sharingan. The only sensei I know of who can stand against him is Gai sensei. That should also piss off Kakashi, Gai being his eternal rival. I need to improve my speed and taijutsu, then Kakashi's going down!'_

-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Good evening Gai-sensei," Rikako said with a smile and a deep bow. She tracked Gai down at the local sake bar before he started consuming his daily quotient of premium sake.

"Otori Rikako, isn't it? Aren't you too young to be in a sake bar?" Gai glanced up from pouring his sake into a little cup and looked quizzically at the dark-haired, dark-eyed young woman.

"Yes, but I'm not here for the alcohol, I'm here to see you, sir," she said respectfully.

"Me? What would a disciple of Kakashi want with his eternal rival?" His thick bushy eyebrows rose up. Rikako felt a chill down her back as she noticed how creepy they looked, like black fuzzy caterpillars, larvae of the Painted Lady Butterfly, _Vanessa Cardui._

"That's exactly why I want…I mean need you to train me. I feel Kakashi sensei's training is not…adequate. There's something lacking. I think, because he has a sharingan, his techniques and fighting style are developed around it. I've learned many techniques, but since I don't have a sharingan, I can't utilize them with his level of success. I don't think I've reached my full potential. And as his rival, your style is complementary. I believe I could learn a lot from you. I've already spoken to Kakashi-sensei…" she said slowly and methodically, without stopping for a breath, so Gai would not have a chance to interrupt.

_'Hmm, nice speech, and she's right about Kakashi and me, but it's unusual for shinobis to switch mentors.'_

_'Good, he's considering it. I need to think of something to say to convince him…' _Rikako stared at the odd man in green. "Oh, and I really like your aerodynamic jumpsuit, such a wonderful color…"

_'That would improve her performance and she would look very cute in a green jumpsuit. Too bad my other students didn't follow darling Lee's shining example,' _Gai thought, then said aloud, "All right, Otori Rikako, I will agree to take you on if you agree to do two things. First, tell me how you beat my team in the second chuunin exam." '_You guys_ _were so much weaker!'_

"Oh that, we made an alliance with a couple of other teams."

_'I see, she is a smart one. If she's as hard working_,_ I could mold her into a super-shinobi with skills in all three areas of nin-gen-tai jutsu!' _"Second, you must follow my regiment exactly!"

"Yes sir!"

"Okay, for now, do a hundred laps around the village."

"A hundred laps? Do you mean around the village proper or the entire village?" She did not feel like starting her regiment quite yet.

"Huh? Uh, within the village walls."

"Do you mean along the main paths or actually along the walls?"

"Uh, main paths."

"Do you mean now as in now immediately or now as in soon?"

Gai was now beginning to regret accepting her. It seemed she did not really obey orders nor did she express the same enthusiasm as his dear Lee.

"Er, it is getting dark so you may start your regiment tomorrow."

"Yes sir! I'm sorry for troubling you, please excuse me and enjoy your sake." She bowed before she left, while thinking, '_There's no way I'm ever going to wear a hideous green jumpsuit like that with clashing leg warmers. Kunai me!'_

She quickly sent a thought to Gai, '_Black is fine. No jumpsuit!'_

-…-…-…-…-…-

Training with Gai was no picnic. He was a much harder task master than Kakashi. And much more of an annoying idiot. They were so different, like night and day. Gai was beyond enthusiastic, passionate about everything he did, and loud, very loud. Rikako liked silence and being left alone to work out jutsu, but Gai was practically on top of her all the time, yelling out encouragement and advice.

"No, no, not like that! Hit it harder! Faster! Open those gates!"

And whenever she tried to talk to him about the things she had learned in the most recent book she was reading, his eyes glazed over. At least Kakashi pretended to be interested in stuff like how different metals formed alloys and which proportions were best to forge particular weapons. Kakashi sometimes even asked her questions to show he was actually listening. Gai usually changed the topic by ordering her to do more laps.

Still he was a good teacher, better than Kakashi for her weakness, and her taijustu improved dramatically.

-…-…-…-…-…-

_**5.2 Plan A Revived**_

Rikako always wore black because it was practical_. 'If you wear the same thing everyday, no one can tell whether it's really the same outfit or not. And you don't have to think about what to wear, such a waste of time. And if it gets dirty or bloody, it's hard to see.' _She had nine black long sleeve T-shirts and nine pairs of black pants and three pairs of black sandals.

'_And black does not make you stand out. If you wear the same thing everyday, then something completely different, you will stand out when you want to.' _So for her jounin graduation, she bought the most ostentatious yet tasteful dress she could find. '_Red, it has to be red, he likes red_,' she recalled the impression she gleaned when she touched Kakashi's mind.

But she was a lousy seductress, her worse rating as a kunoichi, having had no practical experience. It was hard for her to make small talk, hand out platitudes and flattery, act demure. So when Kakashi approached her after she received her jounin scroll, instead of playing up to him, her instinctive reaction was to unleash her year's worth of frustration. '_Oh, I didn't mean to insult him! He was being nice. I'm such an idiot! The whole point of this stupid dress was to attract him._ _What do I do now?_ _Did I miss my chance? No, there's always the shinobi memorial…'_

The shinobi memorial. His obsession with it rivaled her obsession with him. Curious to know why Kakashi was always late, her genin team would stake out his abode and follow him in the mornings. They consistently found him visiting the engraved stone, just standing there for an overly long time. Of course, Kakashi knew his team was following him. so he often stood there even longer than he usually did just to test their patience.

-…-…-…-…-…-

He appeared just as she knew he would. She wasn't sure how to proceed, and she nervously tucked her loose strands of hair behind her ear. It had long been a force of habit whenever she was nervous or excited or frustrated. It kept her hands from trembling or shaking or clenching_. 'Now can I defeat him at my level?'_

But she felt a soft warm glow from him, something that she had never felt before. Maybe it was because her powers had improved in the past year. Maybe because he had changed.

To her surprise (she was sure she'd have to resort to plan B and knock him unconscious after plan A failed so miserably), he admitted that she was important to him. Not exactly the thought she had slipped him a year ago, but good enough. She could run with it. Then she finally got to see his face after all these years.

The mask had been a focus of obsession with her. There were other shinobi who wore masks, but not all the time. Even on missions he never ate with the team. There was always an excuse: he had to keep watch; he wasn't hungry; he ate already; he'd eat later. It was more than mysterious; it was part of him and the reason for it could explain what kind of person he was. She had to know what kind of person he was in order to proceed with her plans.

There was no disfigurement other than the scar running vertically across his left eye. It was almost disappointing, just another pretty face. He looked younger than his years despite the gray hair. He had good skin tone and no obvious wrinkles. '_It must be because he keeps his face covered up and away from the sun_,' she analyzed. His admission made her giddy and she couldn't stop laughing in celebration of plan A finally succeeding. And though she lived her entire life as a lie, the next line was true, just not in the same way he meant.

…"_You're important to me, too"…_

She reached up to kiss his cheek, more out of instinct and curiosity rather than part of her plan. But a sweet innocent kiss was not enough for him after waiting for so long. She released his hands and was about to turn away to return to her books and scrolls, but then he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer for a genuine kiss. A long passionate kiss where his lips varied their pressure and moved across hers.

_'I will bear this_,' she thought to herself. '_I'm close to getting what I want. I will do anything, even allow this bore to sully me_.' (The last part of her thought was influenced by a horrible historical romance she forced herself to read.) To reinforce her determination, she entwined her hands into his hair and pulled him even closer.

Then she felt his tongue flicking at her lips, lightly probing between them, trying to convince her mouth to part.

She felt like retching. She had read about this kind of stuff in books. She had done her research. As soon as she was of age, she bought a couple of the titles she saw Kakashi reading. It just seemed really gross. She could taste his breath, and what he had for breakfast (eggs and toast). '_I can bear this!' _she insisted. '_I must draw him in, bind him.' _She parted her mouth slightly to invite his tongue in.

She felt his tongue touch hers lightly and then across her teeth. Then the kiss grew deeper more insistent as his tongue plunged further in. His hands started roving across her body. They moved from her waist to her back in vertical strokes. Her body tensed but his caresses continued. Then one hand ventured to touch her breast.

That was the last straw and she pulled away abruptly. "We haven't been on a date yet," she reprimanded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he started to say while scratching his head in embarrassment. But what he really wanted was to throw her over his shoulders and take her back to his place for a marathon sex session.

"No, it's all right... I was just surprised." Her face was very red.

He had never seen her that embarrassed before. '_Red's such a nice color on her…' _He reached for her again.

"Someone might see us," she tried this excuse.

"I don't care…"

"But then they'll see your face," she pointed out.

At that thought, he pulled his mask back up.

"You really are incredibly weird." She shook her head while laughing.

"Yes, but that's why you like me."

She turned her head away and thought, '_No, I don't. Not at all. You are just my target, part of my mission. You're an annoying idiot, though admittedly a rather good-looking one_.' She changed the subject to direct his attention away from any further romantic overtures. "I have to finish up my project and return these books and scrolls back to the library archives."

"Well, I don't really have anything to do today. Mind if I tag along? Maybe we can pick up lunch?"

"You mean get takeout?"

"Takeout is always better. It's cheaper because you don't have to tip and the food is just as good and you can eat anywhere you want," Kakashi explained practically.

"A picnic then?"

He nodded.

She considered, '_That would give us some privacy. We can find some isolated spot. If he takes a nap I can...'_

"All right, I just need half an hour."

Kakashi sat beside her and took out his brown paper wrapped book, planning to read while she worked. He stopped before he turned to his bookmarked page. "Umm, if this really bothers you, I can put it away." But the way he held his book firm and the pleading look in his eye told her he really did not want to at all.

She shrugged. "I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me."

"You should try reading them sometime. They're really good. I promise it's not just the explicit scenes, there's a lot of humor and drama..."

"I'm sure there is. Maybe I will." She blushed again and turned her attention back to her own dry books. She did not want to admit that she had read a couple of them as part of her research on him.

-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: Part 5 is completely new. Wasn't sure how to write "normal" Kakashi and how he would act on a date, but then I realized, it wouldn't be a normal date. Funny, serious, angsty Kakashi is easier to write for, but normal Kakashi is hard!_

-…-…-…-…-

_**5.3 First Date**_

As they walked through the village, there were other couples holding hands or linking arms. In contrast, Kakashi had his hands in his pockets as usual, and Rikako insisted on walking either in front of him, which was hard as his stride was nearly twice hers, but then again he walked slower, or a couple of steps behind him. No one seeing the two would have thought they were together at all, which was exactly what each wanted. They were both very private people who did not want to be the topic of shinobi gossip.

Kakashi patiently waited at the library while Rikako returned her books and scrolls. The librarian was quite surprised to see him within the premises. '_What's Kakashi sensei doing here? He never visits the library, we don't have the kind of books he likes,'_ she thought, but asked aloud, "May I help you Kakashi sensei?" The pretty blonde batted her blue eyes at him. '_Sigh, I still have a crush on him. Can't let my hubby find out.'_

"Huh? No, I'm just…browsing." He did not want to admit he was waiting for Rikako so he randomly picked up a book and flipped it open. It turned out to be a book on how to raise a family while having a career as a shinobi. He nearly dropped the book, but quickly put it back and decided to wait for her outside instead. '_Family, no, I'm not the family type. She's not either is she? Why am I even thinking about this? It's just a first date!'_

When she came out, they just looked at each other and nodded, then made their way separately to the restaurant which sold bento boxes to take out. Rikako looked over all the prepackaged lunches, trying to decide what she wanted. She finally decided to get whatever Kakashi was getting, which turned out to be the chicken teriyaki with a couple of dumplings and a side salad.

She waited for Kakashi to offer to pay. It took a while before Kakashi realized she was waiting for him to take her box to the cashier along with his. He was not use to paying. Usually his dates paid his way for the privilege of his company. She also made sure he carried the lunches. '_That's what men are supposed to do, according to those etiquette books_,' she noted to herself._ 'I think he needs a copy.'_

They did not speak until they were far away from downtown Konoha. They were now past the training grounds.

"Where are we headed?" she finally asked.

"You'll see," he smiled at her mysteriously from under his mask.

Kakashi led her to the base of a cliff and made her climb to the top where there were large boulders with holes blasted through. His favorite chidori training area.

"Here?" she asked, surprised, recalling the time he finally relented to teaching her the chidori.

-...-

"_I can't teach it to you. You don't have a sharingan. It's an incomplete jutsu without it. You can't counter your enemy's counter while attacking at that speed and your speed isn't good enough."_

"_I don't plan to use it as an assassination attack. I just think it might come in handy for things like…blasting through a cave if there's a cave-in, punching through a locked door, situations like that..."_

"_There are other jutsus for that."_

"_Well, who else are you going to teach it to?"_

_Kakashi sighed and gave in. Who else could he teach it to? He taught Sasuke but he was gone. Naruto and Kenji could not remember complicated seal sequences. Sakura and Takeo did not have enough chakra to sustain it. Would he ever get another chance to teach it? It's not like some long lost Uchiha relative was going to show up. And there was no point arguing with her once she caught hold of an idea. She might give in for a while, but later she would bring it up again and again. The more he said no, the more determined she would be, and she would return to the topic with a new counter argument._

_In their one-on-one training sessions, without the boys holding her back, without holding herself back, she showed her true talent. He learned a lot about her during those sessions, she less so about him._

-...-

"It's private, no one will see us here," he explained.

The ground was hard rock. She had expected a soft spot by the river. But she shrugged and made the best of it. She found a spot in the shade and settled down to eat her lunch. She placed her bag right next to her so he wouldn't get too close.

They ate in uncomfortable silence. He, because he didn't know what to say, not having been in such a situation before. Usually his dates were dinner dates followed immediately by bedtime with little need for extensive conversation. She, because she was thinking and plotting her usual manipulations.

"You usually get the eel combo," Kakashi said lamely, trying to start a conversation after being halfway done with his lunch.

"Hmm? That's true but I didn't want to…smell fishy," she said with a blush, while thinking, _'Since when did he notice something like that_.' But it was true, whenever their team stopped for food during a mission, that's what she usually ordered. This time she just got whatever he was having so she didn't have to worry about possibly sharing her food, which she also found kind of gross. Being a medic-nin made her rather obsessive about germs. Also, if they ate the same food, kissing would be less… disturbing.

He moved closer and sniffed her. "You smell nice, like jasmine soap as usual."

"Seems you know a lot more about me than I do about you. So tell me about yourself." She was trying hard to make conversation to prevent him from sucking her face again.

"You've known me for six years. We've been on numerous missions together. What's there to tell? Besides, I thought you knew everything about me from your father."

"Only a few things. For some reason my dad doesn't like to talk about you. He doesn't like you," she stated bluntly.

He shrugged. "I've never been one to win popularity contests."

"If you take off your mask, you'd win one with the ladies," she teased.

"I only want one," he replied smoothly.

She blushed again and tried to steer the conversation back to him. "So if you weren't a shinobi, what would you be? Did you ever want to be something else?"

"Not really, but I've been thinking of doing some writing."

"What kind of writing?" '_If he says like what he reads, I won't be able to stop laughing.'_

He shrugged. "Maybe an action adventure series based on my missions." '_With lots of sex and romance but she might laugh at that.'_

"That sounds interesting. I'd be interested in reading that." '_Know thy enemy!'_

"So what about you?"

"Actually, I thought it would be nice to start a psychological counseling services department at the academy or hospital. They have some counseling classes at the academy, but it's not the same thing."

"Hmm, interesting goal, but aren't most counselors more… sympathetic?"

"What do you mean?" she asked with a tinge of annoyance creeping into her voice.

"They're usually more the touchy-feely type."

"Are you saying I'm too cold to be a counselor?" Her voice's pitch went up slightly.

He shrugged.

Rikako was a bit sensitive about her lack of sensitivity. "It's important to be objective, not to get pulled into the patient's pain," she rationalized. "I don't need to feel what the patient is feeling. I just need to point out how he should cope. It's all in the textbooks. Anyway, that's not going to happen for some time… But you're right, I probably do need some tragedy in my life so I can be more sympathetic," she added the last part in reconsideration as if she were planning to conduct a scientific experiment.

_'I wonder if she realizes that sometimes the things she says come off sounding quite…strange.' _"No one should want tragedy," he finally said.

"I didn't say I want it. I said I need it to know how others feel. You're right, sometimes I'm afraid I don't feel much at all. That's what makes a good shinobi, isn't it? But a lousy counselor?"

"It's not that shinobis don't feel, they just control their emotions. But sometimes it's hard to distinguish the difference. I'm sure you'd make a fine counselor," Kakashi said encouragingly while thinking, '_Not really, but why ruin someone's dream.'_

"The legendary Sannin Tsunade did much to advance the field of shinobi medicine, but only as it pertained to the body. The mind must be in equally good health in order for a shinobi or any human to perform satisfactorily." A rather cold and clinical analysis, but what she meant was she wanted to help those whose minds suffered from the trauma of war, or missions gone wrong, and the lost of loved ones. Her father had told her many stories of shinobi suicides in addition to horrific deaths in his attempts to dissuade her from becoming a shinobi. Instead, it had strengthened her resolve. _'Such a tragic waste of life, I want to help.'_ Despite her misanthropic views on humanity, she sometimes had grandiose ideas of saving humanity from itself.

"That's a worthy goal. I didn't know that's what you really wanted to do."

"Actually, I don't know what I really want. I'm afraid I don't have any long term goals."_ 'I only have one short term goal right now_,' she thought to herself as she stared at her target appraisingly._ 'I want to know him, get closer to him.'_

_'I want to know her, be closer to her.'_ "You know, all those questions you asked in the past, I didn't answer them very well. You can ask me anything now. I promise I'll give you a real answer.

She was unprepared for this. She didn't have her list with her and she struggled to think of something. "Well, I already know what you look like under that mask. I know how you got your sharingan and about your best friend. Let's see... are you satisfied with how you lived your life? Do you have any regrets? If you could go back in time, what would you change?"

_'Sigh, she had to ask me something like that._ _I thought she'd ask something typical like how many women have I slept with_. _So many regrets, so many things I want to change.' _"Regrets… everyone has them, don't they? But there's nothing you can do to change the past. And I wouldn't change anything, despite my regrets. After all, it means I may not be here with you." '_Good answer!' _Kakashi mentally patted himself on the back.

"That's a good answer. Is that from one of your books?" she laughed at her own joke.

_'Why is it that every time I say something vaguely romantic she cracks up?'_ he thought, slightly annoyed. But he couldn't help but smile at the laughing young woman before him and he moved in closer, hoping to steal another kiss. She allowed him to kiss her, but as soon as his hands started roaming again, she pushed him away.

_'Haven't had one play hard to get in a very long time_,' Kakashi thought ruefully.

"How about we do some training? I haven't faced off against you in a long time. I think I've gotten much stronger." '_I can end this today if I beat him.'_

Kakashi sighed, "It's just after lunch. It's not good to train right after you eat." '_Geez, I hope she doesn't turn into another Gai with his absurd challenges!'_

She nodded and suggested, "Maybe you should take a nap." '_That would work too,'_ she thought. '_The ways I can get to him are if he's asleep, or unconscious, either naturally or by drugs…'_

"I'm not sleepy. If anything, I'm feeling full of energy right now," he said as he tried again to pull her closer.

"I want you to use your sharingan against me to see if Gai's training was useful."

But Kakashi was feeling lazy and amorous and did not want to train at all. Instead he was trying hard to kiss her neck while she thought furiously for another plan.

"If you beat me, I'll…I'll let you get to second base…" (a euphemism based on a silly boring civilian game that she learned from some horrible adolescent book).

That got Kakashi's attention. "So you think you can beat me and my sharingan now?" he asked, rather amused at her persistence.

She shrugged_. 'I'll go at him at 70 percent and ramp it up to 90 percent, that way I can gauge how much more I need to improve and I don't want him to know my full power yet. He's older now, and if he's been as lazy as he was in the past, I might have a chance despite that eye. He won't use fire jutsus, and there's no source of water here, and the ground is hard rock so earth jutsus are limited. He won't use his chidori against me. If I fight him under the guise of training…this could work.'_

"All right," Kakashi agreed, "I'll accept your challenge, and the prize." He added the last part with a grin and a twinkle in his exposed eye. "What do you want if you win? I'll let you get to third base with me," he chuckled at his offer.

But she replied seriously, "If I beat you, then it's over. I won't have anything more to do with you. After all, I can't be involved with a guy who's weaker than me."

_'She's seriously serious_,' Kakashi thought, 'S_he's never been one to prove how strong she is. I wonder what's up.' _"All right," he nodded, "I'll come at you seriously."

_'She's not susceptible to genjutsu, at least not those at the normal level. Her speed is not as good as Gai's but it is now on par with mine. But I know all of Gai's moves, I shouldn't have any problems…' _Kakashi evaluated as he countered her initial moves.

To his surprise, she was not just fighting up close with Gai's taijutsu moves. She interlaced her attacks with ninjutsu, so he found himself defending against multiple attacks, a kick to his left, flames to his right. She was also unfairly using her custom made weapon, the telescoping spear, in her right hand while performing seals with her left. It seemed she was deadly serious.

The hard ground cracked open and shards of rock flew out as her staff, flowing with chakra, struck the ground, missing the veteran shinobi by less than a kunai's length. He returned the favor by sending the rock shards back at her via a wind jutsu. Her staff spun around in front and around her, deflecting the projectiles back toward him.

But Kakashi was not as lazy or out of shape as he appeared from his poor posture and schlumpy clothes. Despite her improved speed and taijutsu, his sharingan proved to be a great advantage for him and too much of a disadvantage for her. He was able to avoid the rocks, and predict her ninjutsu and taijutsu moves after a couple of rounds. But after five minutes of continuous fighting with his sharingan exposed he started feeling fatigued and knew he had to end it soon. The rocks behind him exploded as she missed him and hit them with her staff.

'_Was she really serious? Or was she just saying that to motivate me? Guess I can't take that chance, so I'll have to beat her, even if…'_

To her shock, he purposely took a direct hit from her staff. But it was a feint to draw her in closer. Despite bleeding profusely from the puncture in his left side, he grabbed her and held her in a tight headlock with a kunai to her throat. "If you really want to defeat me, you'll have to be willing to give up your own life," he advised, then released her and collapsed to the ground.

"You're crazy, this was just training," she scolded as she instinctively knelt by his side to tend to his wound, forgetting that she had planned to knock him unconscious.

_'Sure didn't seem like it_,' he thought as he watched her carefully and tenderly stop the bleeding with her chakra. Without asking, she quickly unzipped his shinobi vest, and pulled up his shirt. The hole had stopped bleeding but the wound was still open. She took her first aid kit from her bag and started to wash and disinfect the wound, coolly blowing on it to take away the sting. Then she channeled her chakra to regenerate the cells to knit the wound together. Finally she wrapped bandages around his midriff. All professionally and expertly done, automatically without a conscious thought other than to repair the damage.

He watched her pretty little face as it furrowed in concentration, her nimble hands as they quickly moved across his body. Despite the pain in his side, the light touch of her fingers, the heat from her chakra, and the sight of red excited him, but there was no seductive intent on her part and her look of concern appeared to be genuine._ 'I was just being paranoid. Why would she want to hurt me?'_

"You're too reckless," she continued to berate him. "Was winning worth your life?"

"You said I would lose you if I didn't win. I'd give my life for you," he said smoothly.

"You'd give your life to protect a paying client," she pointed out bluntly.

Kakashi sighed, '_She's so unromantic.'_ But despite her harsh words, he could see she wore a hint of a smile.

_'Almost, if I had fought at him at 100 percent, it would be a draw. I must get 5-10 percent better to ensure a win, or prevent him from using his sharingan, or make him use up some chakra before we fight, or weaken him with poison…or be willing to take a hit like he just did...' _

By the time they were done, the large boulders were obliterated. They were both exhausted, bloody, and sweaty. But he had defeated her and she was forced to continue to endure his advances.

-…-…-…-…-

_Author's notes: The irony here is Rikako is an insensitive, unsympathetic telepath. Despite knowing how people feel, she doesn't sympathize and maintains her objectivity._

-…-…-…-…-

_**5.4 The Shinobi Memorial**_

After the first week of the usual awkwardness that exists in every new relationship, the couple settled down into a rather comfortable understanding. Kakashi was allowed to get to second base only.

On a slow day, after a less rigorous training session, the apparently diametric couple was lounging around by the river. Rikako was sitting and leaning against a tree with Kakashi's head in her lap. She did not like being used as a pillow but she put up with it for the greater goal. They were both reading their customary books. Hers was "The Evolution of Shinobi Weaponry" while his was "Pursuit of Paradise." She was casually and without thinking playing with his hair, as she read about the aerodynamic designs of kunais throughout the ages, when he suddenly sat up and turned to her.

"I would like you to accompany me to the shinobi memorial tomorrow morning…if you're not busy." He added the last part when she said nothing but raised her eyebrows in surprise. He always liked to be alone during his visits.

"Sure, what's the occasion?" she asked, knowing there must be one.

He shrugged as though embarrassed. "It's the anniversary of my best friend's death. I thought it would be a good time to introduce you."

_'How peculiar. Introducing me to a dead man_.' But she smiled and nodded as if it were the sanest thing she had ever heard. "That would be nice. Should I bring something?" She had never had to buy shrine offerings. No one she knew had ever died, or rather there was no one she cared about who had, or rather there was no one she cared about.

He shrugged again. "Obito liked sweets," he suggested.

"All right, I can get some of those sweet bean pastries. Thank you for inviting me," she added the last part sincerely. The invitation touched her more than she was willing to admit. And his feckless charm was growing on her despite her resolve to the contrary.

-…-…-…-…-

Despite her presence there, Kakashi remained silent as he laid out the shrine offerings and burned the incense. She felt like an intruder. '_How strange. It's like I've been called to meet the parents_,' she thought wryly. '_How loyal he is. Still mourning after two decades. When my pet parakeet died, I mourned for a week before I replaced it. But I suppose people are not as replaceable. If I died I wonder how long my parents would mourn. Maybe they would be relieved instead. Kakashi never shows much emotion. Then again it's hard to tell with that mask. He must have great depths of emotion to feel such devotion after so long. But he owes that eye to his best friend and it's a constant reminder. Still…he's a good person isn't he…and he doesn't deserve what I plan to do…'_

_-…-_

_Rikako's Diary Excerpt age 5_

…_I want to be good. I like people who are genuinely good. But I just can't seem to stop from being contrary. Like mom told me not to eat any cookies and even though I didn't want any, I just had to, even knowing she'd yell at me. It's like I'm doing it just to see her reaction. And like when dad asked me not to draw on his prescription pads. I just had to, just to see the veins pop out of his head. They don't really punish me. They just give me "time-out" to think about my actions. I already thought about them and I know they're wrong, but I made the conscious decision to do them and I can't stop myself once I make up my mind…_

-…-

She stood behind and to the side of him as he silently spoke to his friend. He stood there with his head lowered for a long long time and she started feeling restless and bored. She then walked over and placed her arms around his waist, pressing her body against his back, a comforting hug. But it was really so he couldn't see her yawn. He woke from his reverie, placed his hands on hers and turned his head to say with a smile from under his mask, "I think Obito would have liked you."

She blushed. '_No he wouldn't have. Not if he knew what I plan to do_. _Damn, he's making me feel so guilty.'_ She usually did feel guilty for her actions, her manipulations, but much like an obstinate child, the feeling never stopped her from current or future actions. Now she couldn't think of anything appropriate to say. Finally she answered, "I'd like to thank him...and you."

"For what?" Kakashi's eyebrow arched just slightly.

"Well, it seems your adulation of teamwork was because of him and that's what you've tried to pass onto us. I don't think I've ever properly thanked you for that." '_There, I can come up with something stupid and comforting to say, even if I think it's bunk.'_

But her words touched something deep within the shinobi veteran. He silently placed his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly. This was when he knew he was really falling in love with her.

"Tell me about him, Obito, your best friend." '_Know thy enemy_.'

Though he thought about Obito constantly, he rarely spoke about him. Never put his feelings and regrets into words. She had spoken of starting psychological services to counsel shell-shocked shinobis…was she analyzing him as her first patient? "He was a good person. He always tried to help others. He was often late because of that," Kakashi finally said. He smiled a bit at the last part. Obito's pathetic excuses were even worse than his.

"So today is also the anniversary of your sharingan? Maybe you should celebrate that instead…"

"That's nothing to celebrate," he remarked sharply.

"But you've saved many lives because of it. I know you feel responsible for your friend's death, but even if it were your fault, all humans make mistakes. As long as we learn from them and try to prevent others from making the same mistakes, we should be allowed to forgive ourselves." '_Who says I won't make a good counselor?'_

That was something he had told himself a thousand times over, but hearing it from her now irritated him. "What do you know, you're still a child."

_'If I'm still a child, then what the hell are you doing with me? Pervert!' _"Doesn't a child's innocence provide a clearer view of the human heart and soul? Before it's tainted by hard experience."

"I doubt you were ever an innocent child." He couldn't help but smile a bit.

She shrugged. '_No, I was never an innocent child. Not when I know what people are really like.'_

In the past, others had tried to comfort him, told him that it was not his fault; others like her father blamed him, knew that it was. But she said it didn't matter and she thanked him. A simple thing perhaps but it was something that he needed to hear. That sincere expression of gratitude, it made Obito's sacrifice more bearable. '_This girl, she's always been wise beyond her years. Is she a reincarnation of an old soul? A great sage from the past?'_

She would have been the first to admit that she was nothing more than a charlatan, using what she knew about human nature to project an aura of calm wisdom. But her understanding of people was based on books and the impressions she gleaned from their minds, rather than human interactions. And she knew that people did not behave in the way that you would expect from reading their minds. Even Kakashi was not what he appeared to be.

-…-…-…-…-

_**5.5 Kakashi's Quarters**_

Rikako had not seen Kakashi's place before their non-platonic relationship, though she knew where he lived. Her genin team had followed Kakashi home on several occasions out of curiosity, wondering how their sensei lived, whom he interacted with, and if he ever took off that mask. But once he went home, he never came out, so the team's curiosity was left unsatisfied.

He lived simply in a one bedroom apartment. Sparse furnishings, little clutter, a few framed photographs and lots of books neatly arranged, by no apparent order that she could see, on several bookshelves.

Even at home Kakashi still wore his dark blue Leaf shinobi uniform, but without his vest, and his forehead protector over his left eye and the mask over the lower half of his face. He was so accustomed to covering up that he only took the mask off when he ate, slept, showered, or when he wanted to make-out.

Kakashi did not like eating in public so often he suggested dinner at his place, usually takeout, but today they picked up groceries.

_'I wonder if he's a good cook. If he's been living by himself for so long, he should have developed some cooking skills.'_

Her own cooking skills were rather abysmal. Rikako didn't understand why. She always followed the recipes exactly but they never turned out right. Her mother, who never used a cookbook, had wanted to teach her while she was growing up, but Rikako never had time for it. It was unnecessary for being a shinobi. After all, shinobi made good money and could afford to eat out all the time, and while on missions she could survive on shinobi rations. Besides, food just wasn't that important to her.

Her grades in home economics at the academy were rather mediocre. On the few occasions she made a serious attempt, no one encouraged her to try again. It annoyed her that something so simple as cooking, as following a simple set of directions, defeated her. Nothing ever turned out looking like the pictures. It was all just another lie perpetrated to trick the customer into buying the book. Another life disappointment. But her mother said cooking was an expression of love and perhaps that was where her deficiency lay.

"So what are you planning to make?" she asked.

"Me? I thought you were cooking. That's what women do isn't it? I just bought all the ingredients."

She looked at him appraisingly. Was he teasing her? Or was he seriously a male chauvinist? She shrugged. "Sure, I'll cook, just don't complain later."

He chuckled, "So there's something you're not good at."

_'There's lots of things I'm not good at,'_ she mused to herself_, 'Putting up with idiots, holding my tongue, (_she was only able to do those things passably then ranted later about them in her diary), _doing dishes, laundry, any sort of housework.._.' She was spoiled. Her mom still took care of all that, which was why she still hadn't moved out.

"Don't worry, I'll help." His cutting skills were excellent. He was able to pare and dice vegetables at lightning speed.

Her kunai handling was never great and even using a simple kitchen knife was clumsy. '_I can stab someone with a knife, cut their throats, perform surgery, but how the hell do you pare vegetables so finely and dice so quickly without cutting digits off?'_

When it came down to it, he did most of the work while she just stirred. And he did it without looking at a recipe.

"You see," Kakashi explained, "the trick is not to add too much water. If you follow the directions exactly, the sauce will be too thin and bland. Then you'll have to add more of the curry cubes."

"I see..." Rikako contemplated this advice seriously. "It's a ploy perpetrated by the curry manufacturers in order to fool the consumer into buying more curry..."

"Er, I never thought of it that way before. You know, not everything is a conspiracy..."

The conspiracy concocted chicken curry tasted quite good. '_If he can do it, so can I! I won't lose to him in something so simple!'_ She added cooking to her list of things to learn to do.

Later, as Kakashi did the dishes, Rikako made herself comfortable on his couch, browsing through one of his books, while mentally steeling herself to progress to the next stage of her plan. She had found no opening to poison him. And his sense of smell and taste were acute. He would probably be able to detect most poisons. She was still unable to defeat him with absolute certainty. It was now down to the last resort.

But what if she gave up her plan? What if she stopped thinking of how to invade his mind to find out her origins? Did her past really matter? What was important was the present and future, more than the past. What if she freed herself of her obsession? Was it really that bad to be with him? She looked over at the handsome older man who was washing the dishes. '_If he's willing to do all the household chores, I wouldn't mind being with him for real,' _she thought with a smile. '_These past couple of weeks…he's actually very nice, and interesting. Not exactly considerate, still rather weird, but I think I do like him quite a bit…and I'm getting used to all that kissing and touching…'_

But then she forced those thoughts out of her head and focused on what she needed to do.

-...-...-...-...-

_Author's Notes: Please leave a review. Only 20 percent of the people who have this on their favorite list have left a review! I'm interested in what people think of my OC as she develops. I refrained from making her nicer in my rewrite, but I didn't want to go too far in the other direction either. _

_The title "A Slow Seduction" not only refers to Rikako's attempt to seduce Kakashi but also how she gets pulled in despite herself. The cooking curry part was written before the Curry of Life filler episodes._

_"Anti-lemon" coming up next._


	30. KKT 5,6 Last Resort

_Author's notes: My first lemon! I normally don't like adding lemons to my stories since I think they detract from the overall work and readers focus too much on the lemon. But I decided it was important to have one here as part of character building._

_**5.6 Last Resort**_

…_her kisses were more fervent than usual and he could not resist them…_

He hesitated at first, an instinctive reaction to having kept himself in check these past couple of weeks. Usually he was the one who kissed her and she was the one who pushed him away when she felt he was moving too fast. Now as she held his face in her hands, pressing her lips insistently to his, with a slight flicker of her tongue barely touching his, he felt the long suppressed urges released from their restraints. He boldly moved his hands, slipping under her plain black shirt, touching her cool yet feverish bare skin. This time she did not slap his hands back or use a wind jutsu to blow him away. Instead she pressed her body closer to his. He moved his hands up her back, pulling her shirt up until he felt…bandages.

_'Damn it! Kunoichi and the damned bandages across their chests! Why can't they wear a bra with a simple clasp? Bandages are the bane of an impulsive sexual encounter! They take forever to unwrap!'_ But he was not deterred despite the bandages. He had waited this long, he could wait another couple of minutes.

She finally released his lips and pulled back to allow enough room for him to pull her shirt over her head. Her braid came undone and her long loose hair caught static and flew about her head and in her face. She frowned and in an annoyed motion grabbed her hair from about her with both hands and pulled it back tightly, but she had no hairband to bind it, which made her frown even more_. 'This is sooo not a good start, stupid hair in my eyes…' _

But she was not deterred despite unsuccessfully trying to tie her hair into a knot. She then started to help him unwrap the bandages across her chest and their hands touched for just a second. She instinctively pulled her hands back as if she felt an electric shock and her body tensed.

He stopped his motion and asked her "Are you sure you're ready for this?" Though he said it tenderly and with great patience, there was an undertone of desperation, that if she were to say no at this point, he would throw himself off Kikyo's tower. She met his one opened eye, gave him a slightly confident smile, blushed very deeply, and nodded.

_'She's so different like this_,' he thought, '_then again you never know what someone would be like in bed. The quiet ones are often like animals. But she's so…demure?'_ He couldn't think of the right word. She was just different. She was usually so cool and confident. She had even started this with the same demeanor. But now there was an uncertainty and an innocence he did not think she was capable of.

Finally, after unwrapping about ten tiers of bandages, she sat there unbound before him. Her chest was red and lined from the tightness of the binding, but she was better endowed than he had thought. '_She's most definitely a C rather than a B,' _he thought happily.

She did not give him any time to stare at her body as she pressed herself onto him again, her lips locking onto his. Her hands now repeated the actions of his hands as they slipped under his shirt. Most male shinobis did not wear bandages under their shirts, at least not for the same reasons. But her hands did not immediately pull at his shirt, instead they took the time to caress and feel his muscles and trace the scars on his back. The time she was taking though pleasurable was like slow torture to him. Now impatient, he grabbed at the ends of his own shirt and quickly pulled it over his head. His forehead protector came off with it.

She had seen him without his shirt before, as he stepped out from the shower after their training sessions, but she had never truly studied it. And now her analytical brain took over and she began to count the number of scars, memorizing their size and shape, cataloging their texture. '_He's about 5'11", 150lbs, chest 38", waist 29",'_ she continued to itemize his attributes. '_A very fine male specimen. Good muscular definition. I wonder if he's well endowed. From what I've heard about his reputation…'_

He knew that look, her curious analytical look, and sighed to himself at the delay in satisfaction. Before she could ask him about his injuries, he pulled her close and kissed her forcefully. He took the lead now as his need and impatience grew. But still he moved slowly, cautious not to scare her away.

Her lips were soft but a bit chapped. '_She really should take better care of them,'_ he thought. But one of the things he loved about her was her down to earth nature, caring little for cosmetic appearances, but then again she didn't need to, she had a natural beauty of her own.

_'His lips are softer than mine_,' she thought in irritation_, 'Guess wearing a mask is a good idea…'_

His left hand continued to hold her close while his right hand moved across her body. She also had many scars, mostly thin lacerations from her childhood, but still he could feel the slight ridges and difference in texture compared to her normal soft smooth skin.

His callused hands felt rough yet gentle and as he explored her body she felt the tension leaving her and she began to relax and enjoy his touch. Then she felt a hand clasping her left breast. She flinched slightly and felt his grasp relax. '_What is he doing? Weighing it?' _she wondered as his hand seemed to hold it, massage it, lift it and let it go. His thumb pressed the center in as if to see how far it would go. Then his index finger and the thumb pulled and pinched her nipple erect. '_The sensation is interesting_,' she analyzed, '_and not unpleasant, though a bit painful_.'

He moved his right hand away and as his lips replaced it, she gasped in surprise. Her breath quickened as she felt his lips on her breast and his hand slip into her pants.

To his relief she was not wearing any strange binding undergarments, just regular plain cotton, no-lace, briefs_. 'I should buy her something more…sexy_,' he noted to himself. '_Not that it matters, it will be off soon enough…'_

The warmth and wetness he felt down there betrayed her cool exterior. Satisfied that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, he pulled himself away only to undo her belt and button and zipper. '_Why can't she just wear a simple skirt or dress?' _But his many years of experience proved useful as he suddenly hoisted her body over his shoulders to easily pull off her pants and underwear.

She gave a surprised shriek and flailed her arms. "What are you doing?" she asked angrily. He was ruining the mood she had tried so hard to achieve.

"I thought we'd be more comfortable in bed," he responded. He threw her naked form onto his bed a bit roughly, but that was for hitting him on the head repeatedly as he carried her to his bedroom.

She immediately got under the covers as if to hide her nakedness from him. '_How silly_,' he thought, '_I've just seen it all.' _This small act of naiveté endeared her even more to him until she sat up and announced, "I…I changed my mind…"

His stunned expression almost made her giggle. His hands were frozen in mid action as he struggled with his pants. Now she realized the power of sex, of having a man at her mercy. The uncertainty that had come over her disappeared and she thought about how sex was more than a way to scan a mind, but also a tool to control a man.

_'She has got to be kidding!' _But he wasn't sure as he watched her pull the covers to her neck. He stood there for a minute, uncertain what to do. The ardor he felt started to wane. '_Is she torturing me on purpose? Is this a game to her? Is this what they teach to kunoichi? Or did she decide she's not ready and this is her way out?' _

Then comprehension dawned on him that not only was she not ready, she was inexperienced. All the times she pulled away from him, all the times she pushed him away, the way she trembled when he came too close, it was more than playing hard to get. It surprised him given the nature of the profession and her beauty, but not given her aloof temperament. Shinobi lives were so often cut short, many lived for the moment and gave into whatever situation arose that would give them comfort or cause to continue. The closeness of working in teams, long missions, long days of being thrown together, led to many chances of…not love… but just raw need to be close to someone. There were those who gave into it at every opportunity. He had managed to hold back for the most part, but at her age he had long been experienced. It touched him in that male chauvinistic way that she had waited for him, had chosen him above all others.

"I know this is your first time. I promised I'll be gentle." He was not going to give up now after waiting for so long. Indecent thoughts of force flashed through his mind but he held himself in place waiting for her decision.

In actuality her virginity meant little to her. That she was giving it to a man she did not love, or so she told herself, was not a sin; it was just another way to draw him in, to bind him. She had made no conscious effort to stay a virgin. There was no virtue in her virginity. She was just not interested in any relationship which did not involve her mission. It was something that she would have to be rid of sooner or later and losing it in a mission was no worse than over a silly emotion.

His misgivings disappeared when he saw her shoulders shake in laughter. She was trying very hard to suppress her giggling but finally she let it out. '_Such power! Women may not have the strength of men, but in certain cases, against certain men, they are more powerful…How many assassinations occur in bed?' _she wondered.

"Ha-ha-ha! Are you going to stand there all night? Or do you need help with those pants?" She reached out, still giggling uncontrollably, and her trembling hands began to undo his belt. But were her hands trembling from laughter or anticipation?

She finally released him into man's natural free state, born with no artifice of apparel. As her hands slowly stroked him below, his ardor returned, but he could feel her analyzing him again. She seemed to be measuring his length and thickness. '_The average male has a penis size of 6 inches, hmm…7 inches…seems his reputation is justified. The average diameter is 1.5 inches or a circumference just under 5 inches… hmm...a bit over average there, too. However, according to the texts a length of 5 inches is adequate for stimulation…'_

As she continued to stroke him, her mind reviewed the textbooks she had read:

"_The erogenous zones are where nerve bundles are located… In the human male...in addition to the genitalia, nerves are prevalent in the area between the scrotum and anus, and within the anus itself... Whether anal intercourse is pleasurable varies among individuals, but it is common among male to male coupling... During male to female intercourse, the anal area of either party may be stimulated using artificial devices or using the partner's digits to enter the anus...Other typically sensual areas for both sexes include the lips, ears neck, nipples... "_

"_In order to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, civilians use condoms, an elastic membrane used to cover the penis, but shinobi have the ability to channel their chakra to block and neutralize foreign substances. During intercourse between shinobi, either party may utilize these techniques. Though both parties are not required, it is recommended for 100 effectiveness… These techniques may also be controlled to stimulate or diminish arousal…" _

She was now sitting by the edge of the bed. Her hand pulled at him rhythmically as she asked, "You'll be responsible for protection?" '_Never tried those shinobi contraceptive techniques before and I must get him to use up his chakra while conserving mine…make him do all the work…let him take the lead. I'll just be a passive participant. '_

He nodded in response, to busy enjoying her touch to speak.

Then his hands cupped her face and he bent down to kiss her. Her right hand was still holding onto him while her left circled around his hips. He pulled away from her grasp to kneel down. The hard cold wooden floor was uncomfortable. '_I have to buy a throw rug,' _he noted as he moved his lips to her neck and ear. His breath on her ear tickled and she began to giggle nervously again. '_Geez, she is sooo unromantic,' _he thought as he moved his lips down her neck and between her breasts, lightly licking her skin.

His left hand caressed her back as his right hand moved between her legs and he inserted his forefinger into her. '_Tight, very tight...'_ Her body was still trembling. He stopped to look up and saw that she was not laughing now, but instead had a troubled look upon her face, luminescent in the room now lit only by the moon's soft rays.

_'I will go through with this!' _she insisted to herself.

He asked her again, "Are you sure?" But this time he held her face with his left hand so he could see her eyes when she responded. She shook her head free of his hand and said impatiently, as if willing herself not to change her mind, "I said yes before." Which wasn't true, she had only nodded her consent, but there was no turning back now.

He returned his attention to her chest. '_C size is best,' _he thought as he took her right breast in his mouth_. 'Anything larger than D is just too big. B is just passable. But this is perfect_.' He noticed with interest that her aureoles were dark compared to her skin. He had thought that they would be more pink give her fair skin. They were also rather large and so were her nipples, unusual for someone who had not borne a child, but even more enticing.

_'Why are men so fascinated with breasts? Is it from an oral fixation dating back to infancy? Kakashi rarely talks about his parents. He never knew his mom...projection... transference?'_ she wondered to herself.

His left hand was placed on her lower back, holding her in place so she could not escape. As he continued to suckle her breasts, moving from right to left and back again, she closed her eyes and stopped analyzing his movements or her feelings, but instead let the waves of sensation slowly wash over her while her hands stroked his hair. Then he seemed to stop, and she felt a new sensation.

It tickled at first and she had to bite her lower lip to keep from giggling again. But then the sensation developed into a tingling warmth that emanated from her lower region to the rest of her body. She found herself short of breath though she hadn't exerted herself at all. Sounds escaped from her lips that she had never heard before. She felt herself blushing at the thought of what he was doing.

He was clearly an expert with his tongue, knowing the best pacing, alternating the pressure, concentrating on the most sensitive area. Long languorous licks and little quick ones that drove her to uncontrollable spasms. Waves of electrifying warmth pervaded her. It was like nothing that she ever felt before or expected. She finally opened her eyes halfway to find him pressed on top of her and kissing her again. She could taste the saltiness of her own emanations on his lips and tongue. The thought of something like that would normally have disgusted her, but now after such a euphoric sensation, she was willing to ignore all boundaries of hygiene.

Her hands reached down and grabbed his fully erect organ. Despite her inexperience she knew what to do instinctively as she lowered her head and took it in her mouth, flicking her tongue at the tip, and then swallowing him whole, moving rhythmically back and forth.

"_Despite popular belief, sexually transmitted diseases maybe contracted via anal or oral-genital sex…Although in the latter case transmittal is less probable, detection and cure of oral STDs may be more problematic...The usual preventative civilian or shinobi techniques should be utilized..."_

He moaned with pleasure, but to his frustration she stopped. But then she said, "You can do whatever you want with me."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

"Whatever you like," she said boldly. '_I must make him use up his chakra!'_

Sex with a kunoichi had so many options, especially those capable of henge and kage bunshin, but right now all he wanted was her, no one else, to be with her, feel just her body, not a clone. "Straight is fine." '_For now',_ he added to himself.

He positioned her on his bed, even fluffing up the pillows so she would be comfortable. This time he asked her directly, he wanted to know for sure before he proceeded, "You haven't done this before with anyone else have you? Male or female?"

She turned red. 'What kind of girl do you think I am? And what if I have or haven't? What's your point?"

He chuckled at her defensiveness. She never liked being teased. But as he position himself over her, she said shyly, "I want to see your eyes." '_With his sharingan exposed, he will use up more chakra…'_

Complying with her request, he looked her in the eyes. '_Such beautiful dark eyes, like there's no iris at all…just an odd flicker of green…'_

She held his hypnotic gaze. '_Such lovely eyes…especially that sharingan. Red and black, my favorite colors. That sharingan matches the color of my red dress…'_

Positioned over her, his hair, shimmering silver in the moonlight, fell across his face, nearly covering his mismatched eyes.

_'She's so tight, even with the natural lubrication it'll be painful. Knowing her, I'm in for a struggle,' _Kakashi thought as he planned his next move. He grabbed her wrists and held them over her head with one hand while the other one snuck down to aid in entry. He felt her body flinch and tense under him. But he maintained eye contact, trying to reassure her with his gaze. The thought of hypnotizing her to be his sex slave crossed his perverted mind but he decided that would come in due course. "This is probably going to hurt, but I promise it'll get better," he told her honestly.

She nodded. '_How painful can it be? Not more than being stabbed with a kunai…'_

As he kissed her deeply, with his tongue penetrating her mouth, he entered her. She was tight, very tight, not just because it was her first time, but because she was now fighting against his entry. He had to channel his chakra into strength in order to hold her down.

She turned her head away from his kiss, closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. Her body instinctively struggled to avoid the pain. It was worse than she expected. _'I can bear this! It should be all over tonight. I just need to wear him down, use up his chakra, get him to sleep soundly.' _So she steeled herself against his onslaught while reciting passages from textbooks in her mind.

"_The frequency of simultaneous orgasm is often exaggerated. It is in fact a difficult feat to achieve without the use of chakra by at least one party. The simplest way to achieve simultaneous organism between shinobi is to synchronize chakra frequencies. A phase shift in either positive or negative direction would diminish the effects and could cause the chakra frequencies to cancel each other, in which case neither party will be able to reach orgasm. The latter situation is used in cases where delay of orgasm is desired…"_

She couldn't tell how many pushes it took him to break through; it just seemed that he refused to stop even when he had. Each thrust felt like a kunai stab cutting her interior. He was pushing so hard she felt her entire body lift from the mattress. The pain was excruciating, nearly more than she could bear. Finally she felt him stop and shudder_. 'I can't believe this is supposed to be enjoyable. Hope he remembered to take precautions. If I get pregnant, I'll definitely kill him!'_

As he collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily, he whispered in her ear. "I love you," he said for the second time that night. It was much easier to say this time. But there was no reply except a tenseness in her body._ 'I won't say it again after this,' _he thought ruefully. '_I'm already at a disadvantage. I've said it twice and she hasn't said it back.' _

But how many times had the reverse happened? Women (and men!) had told him they loved him without truly knowing him and his only response was silence or a shrug. Now karma was returning the favor and he had no right to complain. She was here with him for the night and that was enough.

"I know it's hard to say. It's taken me decades to say it to someone. But it's okay, I know you do," Kakashi teased, apparently confident, but really just trying to save face.

Rikako did not hear his last words. She was lost in her own thoughts. '_This was not so bad_. _It was even strangely enjoyable in a masochistic way. But I must be careful not to get drawn in. He says he loves me. No one's ever said that to me before, not even my parents. But it's not real, just another lie...'_

She reached for him again.

-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: I decided to write an anti-lemon meant to be more humorous and educational rather than titillating. I received a review on another site complaining that sex is not about thinking and analyzing, but the whole point is that that's what sex is supposed to be about under normal circumstances, but not in this case and not with these chars. Maybe I'll be inspired to write a more normal lemon later in this series._


	31. KKT 6 The Kunoichi from Thunder Country

**PART VI The Kunoichi from Thunder Country**

_**6.1 Revelation**_

The night's minutes slowly ticked away. Rikako waited all night for Kakashi to fall asleep, but he didn't! He stayed up all night staring at her. '_Flattering, but very annoying!'_ She couldn't perform a full mind scan while he was still conscious. The whole point of sleeping with him was so she could get close enough. This was what she had been waiting for all these years. This man held the secrets to her past.

She was already tired and only the adrenaline from the anticipation of completing her plan kept her wide awake, though she pretended to sleep, hoping he would follow suit. '_Didn't he use up enough chakra after that many times?'_ As her frustration grew, the green chakra leaked out and enveloped her. Her helplessness in the face of this man and her dependence on his knowledge enraged her. But then her thoughts slid toward the warmth she felt as he held her, the way he made her feel with his touch, and her anger subsided. Thus she spent the rest of the night in conflict, with her emotions seesawing from one extreme to the other.

She felt the sun's warmth as its rays crept across the room. Then she felt him move from the bed and heard him use the shower. '_What should I do now? Do I continue with this? He's got to fall asleep some time. Can I hold on longer than he can? With soldier pills a shinobi can go for a week without sleep. Normally, just a couple of days. I wonder what his limit is. I must be patient…'_

Breakfast was a quiet affair and the eggs were surprisingly tasteless_. 'I thought he was a better cook than this. Well, not hungry anyway.' _She played with her food, taking small bites while thinking of her next step.

But to her surprise, Kakashi decided to tell her about her adoption. Of course she already knew and she kept her poker face on, but his next words cut through her like a sharp kunai through a water clone. '_He killed my parents! Even worse, last night he held this secret from me!' _

The betrayal was beyond humiliating. Gone were any tender feelings she had developed for him. Rikako was so stunned she hardly knew how she felt - furious, sad, betrayed, but also a bit guilty. He deserved to die for killing her parents, but yet he did tell her the truth, and she had planned to invade his mind for the information that he willingly volunteered. Only that guilt kept her from killing him where he stood.

She felt the uncontrollable rage overtaking her and she had to leave or she would not be able to stop herself from attacking him. She had not felt this uncontrollable leak of chakra since the first C mission. The air around her thickened, becoming ionized from the electromagnetic radiation emanating from her mind. Perhaps if he had told her before their involvement, her reaction would not have been so virulent.

_'All this time. He lied to me. He killed my parents. But he was on a mission. What sort of mission? In Thunder Country…I'm from Thunder Country, from Hidden Cloud Village?'_

Her head and heart pounded as she raced home. She quickly made for her room and then started packing, haphazardly throwing a change of clothes, weapons and toiletries into her backpack. Her mother, concerned about the disturbance caught her as she finished.

"What's wrong, Rikako?" she asked. She had never seen her daughter in such a state before.

"I know, I know everything. Kakashi told me," she replied coldly.

"Told you? Told you what?"

"Don't act like you care. You never wanted me anyway. Now I know why."

"That's not true, you were always my daughter," Rika protested. It was true, but now, confronted with the dark truth, she instinctively denied it.

Her daughter ignored her, brushed by her, and rushed down the stairs.

"What's going on here?" Her father had heard the raised voices and moved to block her escape.

"I'm leaving," his daughter answered brusquely.

"What's going on? Where are you going?" he demanded.

"It doesn't matter. You'll know soon enough." She used the same words he used whenever he refused to answer her questions. She glared at him and for a second her eyes turned completely black and he was unable to move.

_'A paralysis genjutsu?'_ the old man thought as his daughter pushed him out of the way. '_Her eyes, they were like that back then…'_

-…-…-…-

She had to find out more about her biological parents. She needed to visit Thunder Country, but how, without being detected? Hiding her presence, escaping from Hidden Leaf Village was something she had long thought about - a contingency plan. What if for some reason she had to leave Konoha? What if she did not want someone to be able to find her or track her? Not that she ever seriously thought about being a missing-nin, but you never know when being able to disappear would come in handy.

Rikako held a small earthen urn painted with special symbols. Blue-green chakra tendrils emanated from her fingertips and flowed into its narrow mouth. She sealed it, and buried it under a tree in one of the training areas. Now part of her chakra would always be in Konoha should anyone try to find her via her chakra signature. It would at least buy her some time. She muted her chakra and her scent and then took off without looking back.

-...-...-...-...-

_Author's Notes: I don't plan to write much of a backstory for her parents but I imagine the doctor to be rather a stern man who doesn't express love or compassion though he cares about his family and patients. Her mother I imagine to be disappointed with life and how things didn't turn out the way she thought and just drudges along day-to-day. I think it's important to have a feel for minor chars even if you don't plan to develop them. _

-...-...-...-...-

_**6.2 The Trip to Thunder Country**_

The would-be-missing-nin made her way slowly pass the borders of Fire Country and Thunder Country. The green fields of Konoha slowly faded away and were replaced by mountainous plateaus, then the mountains themselves.

The lodging village at the foot of the mountain where Hidden Cloud Village resided was where shinobi contracts were negotiated. The lodging village was a typical one with small inns and restaurants lining the main street. But the buildings were primarily of mortared stone rather than of wood like those in Konoha. The shinobi village itself was off limits to anyone except shinobi assigned there and those with special passes.

_'If I can make contact with someone who knew my parents…If I can find out about any special techniques or advanced bloodlines…What is it like to be a Cloud shinobi? Is it different there? Where do I belong? Do I owe Konoha my loyalty?' _

Three days of traveling gave Konoha's prodigal daughter time to think and plan. She disguised herself as an import-export trade manager and approached the Cloud shinobi under the guise of comparing Cloud shinobi rates against Leaf shinobi rates to protect cargo crossing the borders. Rikako knew she looked too young to be believable, and they could possibly see through henge, so she resorted to a physical disguise. She simply pulled her hair back in a bun, applied makeup, and dressed in a plain loosely cut navy suit that she had picked up along her journey. She held her head up and narrowed her eyes to achieve a illusion of confidence and authority.

-…-…-…-

As she spoke to the old Cloud shinobi in charge of contracts about her intention to hire shinobi guards to protect her cargo, he stared at her intensely.

"Your name miss, what is your name?" asked the old man with the heavily scarred hands.

She gave her name as Maruyama Rikako.

"Are you related to the old Maindo house of Hidden Cloud Village?" he asked.

"Perhaps a distant relation," she suggested.

"You...you look so much like my daughter." '_The same facial features, the same hair, and most significantly, the same eyes - almost black except for the slight reflection of green chakra.'_

"Oh? Do I? Can I meet her? It's always fascinating to meet someone who could be your twin."

The old man sighed, "She's been dead 18 years now." He blinked back a tear.

"I'm sorry." Rikako bit her lower lip. She felt like crying, too.

"She was with child when she died. The child would have been about your age, maybe a few years younger," he sighed again and fell silent as he lost himself in thoughts of the past.

_'This man_,' she thought, '_he could be my grandfather. But should I let him know who I am? Would he want me to stay? Would he want vengeance? What do I want?' _

_'My grandchild, if she had lived, but who knows what the Konoha shinobi did with her. If she died, they could have dissected her to determine the inner workings of her brain if they suspected her to have her mother's powers. If she lived, they might have kept her isolated, performed experiments on her, the way the Raikage did on my daughter. Perhaps it is better that she died. The life of a mind seeker is a solitary one. Even friends and loved ones can not trust you so completely that they have no resentment or fear that their minds would be read.' _He had never had the power, not the real power. The best he could ever do were glimpses, and now at his age, the power was nearly gone.

Rikako heard the old man's pitiful thoughts. Their eyes met and he recognized the power emanating from her eyes. "You're..."

_"Silence!"_ she projected angrily, fearful he would give her away.

He nodded and continued calmly, "Anyway, this is the standard protection contract. Sounds like you need a level B or C mission, it's up to you. You can see our rates are very competitive..."

The young woman took the papers and projected, "_Meet me at the teahouse down the street."_

-…-…-…-…-

_'I've never been able to have a conversation with someone that way. He must have the same powers as I do. He must be a relation. A real blood relative here in Thunder Country. But my friends and family in Konoha…'_ A longing for the green fields of Konoha overtook her momentarily. The land here was mountainous rock. No green fields, no flowers, few trees. At the higher elevation, with the lack of oxygen, everything felt more oppressive.

After his shift was over, the old man walked over to the little teahouse. Rikako indicated with a that he sit at a nearby table. They spoke only with their minds and without looking at each other.

_"Who are you?"_

_"I think your daughter was my mother."_

_"Where have you been all this time?"_

_"I was brought to Konoha and raised there by good people."_

_"Your powers...how strong are they?"_

_"I have nothing to compare."_

_"I can help you, teach you how to use them."_

_"I can't stay in Thunder Country." _It was a spur of the moment decision.

_"I understand. I won't let anyone know about you. I'm just happy that you're alive. But I can show you how to control your powers."_

She stayed with her grandfather for a month, secretly training not just her mind, but also the Hidden Cloud Village techniques. It was taboo, she being a Leaf jounin, but the old man didn't care. '_She has to protect herself. Mind seekers are always in danger even from their host countries. The pogroms of the past are always on the verge of reviving in the present.'_

-…-…-

"…_Mommy! Daddy! Don't let them take me! Please! Please! I'll be good! I promise!" the dark haired-dark eyed girl screamed as she was carried away by men wearing heavy metallic helmets painted with special symbols._

-...-…-

Her grandfather taught Rikako various mind techniques, both offensive and defensive. The techniques advanced her mind powers so that she was now able to penetrate mind blocks. He let her use him as a guinea pig. From his memories she learned about her parents' lives and deaths.

Her poor mother did not lead a happy life for the most part. Midori was taken away from her family when she was six. She was kept in isolation except for the lessons with special tutors. She was tested repeatedly and to the Raikage's delight, she passed all the mind tests by the time she was 10. She was also trained as a shinobi and became a chuunin at 14 and a jounin at 18. Her marriage was arranged by the Raikage as bloodlines were often interbred to produce more powerful shinobi. The marriage was a short but happy one and Midori retired from active jounin duty once she was with child. However, she was still called upon to perform mind scans at the command of the Raikage.

-…-…-

_18 years ago... _

… _The pooled blood had not yet dried, causing the wood floor to feel tacky under his sandals. The eviscerated body lay at his feet with its innards haphazardly strewn about and partially squashed by unsuspecting feet. His daughter's face, her arms, her legs were all coldly colorless. Her healthy red hue had drained out with the blood. Her robes were ripped to shreds. A feeling of uncontrollable fury came over him and he didn't hear his own anguished cries. _

_The Council: _

_At the head of a long rectangular table sat a late middle-aged man in imperial yellow robes embroidered with the character for thunder. At his left and right sat his two advisors. Pacing angrily around the room was Rikako's grandfather._

_"…They killed my daughter, the best of the advanced bloodline of mind seekers. They ripped her child out of her body! Such mutilation cannot go unpunished! We must have one of their advanced bloodlines in retribution!" said the (younger version of the old) man with the scarred hands._

"_We're in a tenuous situation right now. The war is at a standstill. If we go about making such accusations…" said the Raikage cautiously._

"_They're not going to give up one of their own so easily. Especially since the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans are so highly valued and respected. But if we could just get our hands on one of those eyes…" said the Raikage's advisor on his left, a polished, well spoken, well groomed man with a dark beard._

"_Dr. Arai, they also killed your brother! My daughter, your brother… Don't you feel anything at all?" Maindo Makoto slammed his hands on the table._

"_It's a war, nothing personal," Arai shrugged. "But you're right, we should do something. Without Midori we're at a disadvantage," he added practically._

"_They've been trying to engage us in peace talks for a long time," suggested the Raikage's right hand man, Sinobi Gashir, a shinobi who wore bandages wrapped around his head._

"_What do you propose?" asked the Raikage._

"_This peace treaty...peace is what Konoha and its sentimental Hokage craves...We can use that to our advantage," Gashir began to elaborate. "We can enter into peace talks with Konoha. Even sign the damn treaty and put on a great show. Now normally our shinobi wouldn't be allowed to enter its walls, but this way, a few of us will be allowed in with no suspicion."_

"_And then what? Do you propose to just kidnap one of them? We need a live specimen you know, or at least a well preserved one…" Arai argued._

"_Yes, kidnapping! Exactly what I propose."_

"_Hmmf, a body is pretty heavy to carry around and avoid detection…"_

"_Not an adult body! A child…" Gashir smiled at his own plan._

"_I see…a child…in return for the one that was lost…" Arai said as he pulled at his closely cropped beard._

"_That idea has merit, but which clan? Which child?" asked the Raikage._

"_According to our intelligence, the Uchiha clan's prodigy, Uchiha Itachi, age 8, has already activated his sharingan. He might be too dangerous to approach, and a younger child would be easier to handle," Gashir reported. "He has a brother, Uchiha Sasuke, age 3. Now on the Hyuuga side, there's Hyuuga Hinata, age 3, of the Head family, and Hyuuga Neji, age 4, of the Branch family..."_

"_But to choose between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga…" the Raikage pondered._

"_The Hyuuga are the original bloodline from which the Uchiha evolved. For our research purposes, I would prefer the Hyuuga. Their untampered DNA is closer to the genetic basis of the doujutsu and should be easier to analyze and duplicate," Arai rationalized. "Of course, a member of the Hyuuga Head family is preferable…" _

"_Hmmf, you've already thought about this a lot haven't you? For your experiments…" Gashir muttered._

"_I recommend the girl. Girls are easier to handle than boys. And I should have had a granddaughter," Makoto said bitterly._

"_But what if we're caught?" asked the Raikage, knowing Gashir's answer._

"_I'll carry out this mission personally," offered Gashir. "They won't catch me alive. You can always deny any involvement. Those scared sheep in Konoha won't protest with peace at stake."_

_The Raikage nodded thoughtfully. He was a man of few words, preferring to listen to his advisors argue than to give his own input. Now he thought to himself, 'This could work, even if Gashir is killed, we can make demands.' Out loud he ordered, "Then it's decided, the Hyuuga girl!" _

_-…-_

_The failed kidnapping of Hyuuga Hinata occurred soon afterwards and the Maindo clan had their blood vengeance repaid by Hyuuga Hizashi._

_  
-…-…-…-_

"You see, your green chakra," her grandfather explained, "is typical of our clan. It's a manifestation of mental energy. Now the reason why you leak green chakra at night and under duress, is because your mother probably transferred her chakra to you while you were still within her womb. It's a variation of one of our clan's special techniques, but I don't think it's been done before. She probably wasn't sure of its effects, she just wanted you to have enough chakra to survive on your own for a while. A child's body is too small to be an appropriate container so that's why it was a problem when you were younger. As you grew older, your body could then accommodate the extra chakra. However, it is probably not 100 percent compatible with your own, but I can help you with that. Along with the chakra transfer was a partial mind transfer. That's why you have those nightmares. They are visions of your mother's last minutes and your first. Since your mother died a violent death, the energy of the chakra is affected. That's why it's so hard to control and comes out in negative situations."

_'My mother tried to protect me even as she was dying.'_ Rikako calmly thought about her parents' deaths and Kakashi's admission. '_He was the demon in my nightmares. He killed her even though she was pregnant. But he saved me. Why?'_

Before she left Thunder Country, Rikako visited her parents' graves and lit incense by the twin gray tombstones. Bowing low, she closed her eyes and breathed in the sickly sweet scent and murmured a prayer. She felt a great weight lift from her shoulders, floating away with the wisps of grey smoke from the incense. But soon it was replaced by another suspicion. '_What was Kakashi's mission? Was it to rescue an agent? Or to harvest an advanced bloodline?'_

-…-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: This part is probably a bit short but I figure I can always fill in her training in future flashbacks. Her coincidental meeting with her grandfather is a stretch but why bother with another subplot._

_Hizashi's sacrifice is going to play a big part of this series of stories. And it's all Kakashi's fault!_

_"Sinobi Gashir" I learned recently was probably not a name but a mistranslation of the words meaning shinobi leader. However, this is the name that appears in the character book as far as I know._

_Maindo means mind. Maruyama - yama means mountain_

-…-…-…-…-

_**6.3 Secret Memories**_

Now that she was capable of utilizing all of her chakra, Rikako could summon a bird large enough to carry her weight. She returned to Konoha flying on a giant eagle. As the bird flew through clouds to hide their approach, the cold air whipped about her small frame, but she hardly noticed the icy temperature. She was being fueled with a purpose.

'_I can do this, I can defeat him,_' she told herself and itemized her advantages and went over her plan.

_1. Gai-sensei said I am as fast as Kakashi in his prime. _

_2. Kakashi will not want to hurt me so he won't be fighting at 100 percent._

_3. I can do some double jutsu, which gives me an advantage. _

_4. He won't know my chakra has doubled._

_5. I will take him by surprise._

_6. I will fight him in an enclosed environment so he has less room to maneuver or escape._

_7. I must hit him fast and hard so he won't have time to expose his sharingan. _

_8.I should attack at his blind spot on his left side._

_9. If he does use his sharingan, I'll fight him in darkness to even the playing field._

_10. I can threaten to destroy his beloved smut books!_

-…-…-…-…-

But when he opened the door, her resolve wavered and her heart softened for a second. '_How handsome he is...how strong and caring…how genuinely pleased he is to see me.._.' She could sense his warm feelings and she could not look him in the eye, afraid that the tenderness she would see there would distract her from her plan. Again she suppressed the guilt that tried to surface and she proceeded with her plan of attack.

-…-…-…-…-

_'How strange it feels to enter someone else's memories, like watching a fast action movie, a defective tape, which skips and blurs. Where to start? The most important ones first. The ones on the surface.' _

She was seeing events through his eyes and it was difficult to gauge the time of the events. It was only by the feel of the memory and the colors of the aura tinging the scene could she determine Kakashi's approximate age.

The first: a distant memory in light brown sepia tones of a child no older than six, feeling exhilaration at his first kill.

Redder sepia tones, a child slightly older, standing over a bloody lifeless body with a dagger's handle protruding from its mutilated abdomen. Dishonor. Humiliation.

Faded natural tones, an older child weeping tears from mismatched eyes over another boy's crushed body. Remorse. Retribution.

Gray overcast natural tones, an adolescent, not yet ready to shave, dressed all in black for a state funeral. Respect.

Soft natural tones, a young man holding a dying young woman whose last action was to smile at him with such devotion that she (_Rikako_) knew she could never feel. Regret.

A clear memory in bright colors of an almost pretty dark haired boy with cold sharingan eyes learning the chidori. Redemption.

Some of the memories were different from what she knew. She had learned of White Fang's suicide. She did not know his son bore witness. She knew of Obito's death and his sharingan gift. She did not know he died actually saving Kakashi.

Yondaime's funeral. He was both friend and sensei, a double loss. The young woman, who was she? A past lover? The girl on his team? A pang of unreasonable jealously struck her. The boy, his first disciple, now missing.

Loss after loss, three decades worth. A tide of pain previously dammed, now trickled through.

But none of it was what she was looking for. The event was before his disciple left, and after Yondaime. She continued to search, fast forwarding and rewinding at will. There, there it was. She could tell because the landscape around her was mountainous. Overcast natural tones. She was no longer in Konoha but in Hidden Cloud Village.

A calm determination, the goal to complete the mission, to rescue the Leaf agent was foremost in his mind. A cool confidence as he entered the complex. No fear at all. His senses were heightened and he was prepared for anything. A bright flash from an attack. He appeared behind the Cloud shinobi. This one was her father. She recognized him from her grandfather's memories. A tall rugged handsome man with dark features. A quick slash of the kunai ended his life in arterial spurts. No guilt, no qualms, no hesitation. He redirected his attention to the shadow that appeared by the stairs.

Shock, complete utter surprise, panic as he realized what he had done. Two lives in one shot of his chidori. The dark-haired, dark-eyed young woman looked at him intensely, imploring him for her unborn child's sake. Horrified at the consequences, the young jounin desperately tried to grant the dead woman's wishes.

He had saved her; she would not be here stripping his mind if he had not. An act of remorse and humanity, not a harvesting mission. Rikako was satisfied now and slowly started to withdraw from his mind.

But not quite. '_While I'm here I mind as well snoop around_,' she thought a bit guiltily, but as usual that never stopped her before. A time skip, fast forward to present events.

_A sad longing, a profound need, a hopeless love…frantically trying to hang on…_

_A desperate plea, 'Don't leave me.'_

Thoughts from three decades worth of painful losses. Thoughts to which pride would never give voice.

-...-...-...-...-

_Author's Notes: __Next is the final section. It's short but I've been fussing with it, so I'm posting it separately._


	32. KKT 6,4 Forgiveness

_Author's Notes: I have to admit I feel bad when I write serious stories about Kakashi. He normally doesn't have angsty thoughts like the other Naruto characters. He suppresses and hides his angst, which makes him more interesting to me than anyone else. Poor Kakashi will be in for more trouble in this series of stories, but he's the loyal type :)_

_**6.4 Forgiveness**_

Kakashi woke with a pounding headache worse than the time he had his sharingan installed. He found himself lying on the floor with a blanket over his body and a pillow under his head. His clothes were still wet. He heard the rhythmic sound of sweeping and the clunking of debris. He stood up and gingerly felt the bandages around his neck and arms. '_Damn that hurts_,' he thought, '_but I'm alive, she didn't kill me after all. But what did she do to me?' _

Rikako was sweeping the remaining debris from their fight into a dustpan.

"You're up," she said nonchalantly.

"How long have you been able to..." He thought, '_mind rape_.'

"Read minds? Ever since I can remember. At first I thought I was going mad. All these voices in my head. I was about 5 when I learned to control it. Later I found if I made contact with someone using chakra, I could scan his memories. To be most effective, the person has to be conscious yet immobile. I never really used that power to the full extent until... But I had to know the truth, the entire truth. I had to know how my parents died," she explained without remorse.

"Umm, you could have just asked," he pointed out.

"Would you have been able to tell me all I needed to know?"

He shrugged and the pain made him wince.

"I'm sorry I had to hurt you, but I couldn't just say 'Excuse me, let me scan your mind for your most private memories.' But I tried not to be too invasive and concentrated on just what I needed to know," she lied. "Anyway, I'm just about done here. I'm sorry about the mess. I hope none of it was irreplaceable." She was trying hard to act casual but Kakashi caught the quiver in her voice.

He didn't care about any of his material possessions (other than his favorite books), all he wanted was for her to forgive him for killing her parents. But that would be impossible, wouldn't it? Yet she didn't kill him.

He wasn't sure how he felt about what she did to him. He knew he should be furious with her. Invading his mind should have been an unforgivable offense. But was it anymore unforgivable than what he did? And he couldn't help but admire her determination, her planning, her poise. He had missed her desperately these past few weeks. The night they spent together still lingered in his mind and he still hadn't changed the bedsheets just so her scent would remain. '_She would be quite horrified at that. Will have to change them immediately_,' he noted to himself.

Was it so bad to have her know his secrets? He would not have to speak of those events, which made him the man he was; yet she would know; she would truly know him. And if she could love him despite his failings, or because of them…

He approached her. "The only thing irreplaceable to me is you," he replied softly; his decision made, but only after he checked to see none of his books was destroyed.

"You can still say that after what I've done?" She turned away from him as she started to tear up from his tender words, but also to laugh at the same time. '_He's still using lines from those books!'_

He moved closer to her, close enough to catch her scent without having to concentrate his chakra. He hesitated before saying, "I don't expect you to forgive me for killing your parents."

She shrugged as if that were of little importance. "There's nothing to forgive. It was a mission, at a time of war, and you saved me. I'm grateful for that," she replied matter-of-factly.

_'For her to forgive me so easily…' _he thought warmly. He wanted to tell her again that he loved her, to reassure her that his feelings hadn't changed despite her questionable actions, to be able to return to the point before he told her the truth. But he knew it was too soon and given her rather contrary nature, could have the opposite effect. Instead, he ventured to whisper in her ear, "Then you still want me, don't you?" (a confident comment rather than a question) while snaking his arms around her thin waist.

She blushed and felt her skin prickling and her heart pounding madly at his proximity and audacity. Finally she turned to him, her eyes level with his chest, unable to meet his gaze. "I don't know," she replied just as softly, as if to herself.

Her target, her adversary, her lover, held her tightly. "Well, either I have to kill you, or you'll have to kill me, or we'll have to be together, always. I can't have you running around with my memories and secrets in your head," he said almost seriously.

_'Why do I want this man in my life?'_ she asked herself. _'He uses his past as an excuse for his current behavior. He's always late. He reads those indecent books. He's such an idiot sometimes. But he's a good person. That's what's most important isn't it? And I think he needs me. Shinobi are just tools needed to protect the village. To be needed as an individual is something different, unique. Being needed is more important than being loved. It serves a function. And I do like him, a lot, I think. And I have to admit he's quite handsome…a good cook…has such interesting hair and… that hypnotic red eye…'_

"I…I suppose the last option is...is the most preferable..." she replied hesitantly. But she was tentative. Were his feelings genuine or were they a result of her suggestion? But in the end it didn't matter, did it? What was important was how she felt now, at this precise moment in time.

All her life she sought the truth behind her birth, her adoption, her powers. After a lifetime of plotting and planning, she now knew the full truth - not just her adopted parents' version, or her grandfather's version, or Kakashi's version. But her future was unclear. What would the Hokage do with her? Would she be allowed to roam freely with such powers? Would they seal them if they could?

This man holding her, who had aggravated and enraged her in the past, his destiny had been intertwined with hers since the beginning. She lived because of him. Her parents were dead because of him. But she had a life in Konoha because of him. In Thunder Country she would not have had such freedom. If her real parents knew, would they have chosen to let her live a life of freedom? Would they have sacrificed themselves for her? She wanted to believe that her parents would choose her happiness over their vengeance. She had to believe it; her future depended on it.

So how did she feel now, with him holding her so close she could feel the confident beating of his heart and the dampness of his clothes? She felt warm and loved, safe and at peace, and...

…annoyingly wet!

-…-…-…-

END OF BOOK I

_-…-…-…-_

_Author's Notes: _

_I do not address whether or not Kakashi's feelings are real here, but I will in a future story. I tried a slightly different ending from my original where she does tell him about her manipulations, but I felt to be true to her secretive nature, she wouldn't until an opportune time. If this last part seems a bit short I have to admit I got tired of rewriting this story, but I may write an epilogue to bridge it to the next story._

_Hope you liked it. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this entire story. Please leave a review especially if you have any suggestions since I'll be rewriting the second story soon and would like some feedback. Should this have been more/less mushy or angsty? Need more action or plot? I'm always thinking of ways to rewrite or add to my stories but full rewrites are actually harder than starting a new piece in some ways because it's harder to be motivated since the story is already complete. I do not write for reviews but they do help motivate me in writing more and faster. _

_To be continued in "Kakashi's Stolen Sharingan" which will be published with "Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country" as Vol I, since I don't see a point in setting it up as a separate story. This story will be labeled as complete until I start posting the sequel. Summary: Rikako steals Kakashi's sharingan and becomes a missing-nin then joins up with a gang with plans to take over Grass and Rain. He gets her eye in exchange which allows him to find out what people really think about him._


	33. KKT Epilogue

_Author's Notes: A (more normal) lime scene to tie into the sequel._

_**EPILOGUE**_

He had forgiven her so easily even though she had invaded his memories. She knew his privacy meant everything to him, his perpetual mask was a clear indication of that. So why? Because he felt guilty for killing her parents? Because he thought he loved her? Because he was loyal to a fault? Because he was a fool? Because he was a good person and good people were forgiving.

How long had she been standing there with his comforting arms around her? How much time had passed since she started reevaluating her life? Was she wrong all this time? All her life? Not to trust anyone, not even her parents. But it was too late to take back her actions. She knew of no time jutsu to turn back the clock. _'No regrets, I will have no regrets,' _she insisted. _'But what do I do now?' _

Rikako was at a lost now that her lifelong goal had been fulfilled – she had finally completed the puzzle of her past and the basis for her nightmares. Her tunnel vision had prevented her from thinking beyond that. She had not seriously considered that he would still want her or that she would still want him. Either possibility seemed so unlikely that she had dismissed the idea long ago. But now she stood there thinking silently in his strong embrace, with him holding her until the tension in her body dissipated. She rested her head against his chest despite its cloying dampness. That feeling, that elusive feeling from the time before she left crept back to her, tugged at her, reminded her what could be if she let it.

_'I've been faithful. I've held no one else since you left_,' her lover thought tenderly. _'Can you say the same?' _he wondered._ 'It doesn't matter - you're mine now_.'

One hand stayed on her waist while the other ventured to cup her chin, tilting it up so he could easily lower his lips to her forehead (or rather the hair covering it), nose (such an impertinent one), and finally her lips (they still needed lotion). She did not pull away but allowed his lips to gently massage hers. Taking her lack of resistance as an encouraging sign, he lowered his hand to encircle her waist again and to pull her closer. Still she allowed him this privilege. He started licking her dry lips and they parted in invitation - warm deep kisses, but gentle and tentative, testing her response.

It was as if he were kissing her for the first time. And in a way it was for she was not playing a part nor did she have a particular plan of seduction or vengeance. If anything, she was surprised that he still wanted her at all. So she stood there, little more than a statue, unsure what to do, allowing him to touch her but not fully reciprocating. But it felt nice and as he continued his caresses she started to relax and recall how much she loved his touch.

It felt good to hold her again, to feel the warmth of another living soul, someone to care about. '_I won't let her go again. I won't make the same mistake I did with Rin_,' Kakashi thought as he moved his hands lower, then boldly grabbed her buttocks to pull her hips against his, showing her what he wanted next. That was her limit as she now pushed him roughly away.

"Your clothes are still wet. You should go change," she said more brusquely than she meant. _'These feelings - I can't control these feelings. But I can control my actions.' _She touched her own shirt and noted with irritation that it was quite damp.

"Only if you'll help me," he teased as he tried to pull her close again.

"You're a grown man aren't you?" '_Though he often acts like a child.' S_he blushed as she noticed he was already aroused, despite the baggy shinobi pants.

"Yeah, but who doused me with water? And my shoulders still hurt."

She nodded guiltily at his accusation, but he laughed lightly and kissed her again while trying to guide her to his bed.

"I thought you said your shoulders hurt," she said when she got a chance to breathe.

"They don't hurt in this position, only if I try to raise them over my head," he explained with a twinkle in his dark eye. As usual he kept his left eye closed.

"Yeah right. How convenient," she responded in mock annoyance but had to smile at his excuse. But even as she returned his kisses now, internally she was still divided. Her brain was telling her _'No, it's too soon - you don't know what you want' _but for now her heart won out with its advice _'You want to feel like you did before - you want him.' _

He had expertly directed her to his bed without looking. Now sitting down on top of his blanket, she reached over to tug at his shirt, pulling him down to sit next to her. "I'll help you take this off now," she offered as she carefully removed his bandages then slowly pulled up his shirt, gradually revealing pale scarred flesh. She impulsively bent down to kiss the hollow of his midriff, just to see if it felt and tasted the same as before, firm and warm and a bit salty. Then she finished pulling the sleeves over his arms and the rest of the shirt over his head. The wounds where her needles had pierced were no longer bleeding and the flesh had mostly knitted. The medic in her instinctively took over and she started to examine each puncture and to concentrate her chakra to expedite the healing process, but Kakashi could wait no longer.

He gripped her wrists a bit roughly and said, "I'm fine, really." Then he lowered himself on top of her, forcing her to lie down, kissing her all the while. A hand slipped under her shirt but this time he did not want to wait to unwrap ten tiers of bandages. _'She's going to yell at me for this but…'_

He concentrated his chakra into a scalpel and quickly cut away the bandages along with her shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" she was about to say, but her breath was suddenly and purposely sucked out of her by his deep kisses.

Her chest was now exposed and he released her mouth to trail little kisses from her neck down - _kiss_ the hollow where the neck met the shoulder blade _'You're mine...'_

_-_ _lick_ just underneath _'mine...'_

_-__nip _above her left breast _'mine...'_

_-__kiss_ near the auerole '_all mine...'_

_-lick _near its center _'mine...'_

_-__nip_ at the center _'just mine...'_

Now that she could breathe normally, she took in a large gulp of air and held it to clear her head. While he enjoyed her body, she thought more about her life than his caresses. The role that she had played all these years was no longer necessary and as the facade fell away she felt she needed to replace it with something else, something to redeem herself._ 'This man has led a hard life. All those he loved are gone. He has no one. I will be what he needs - someone to love and protect, someone to love and protect him, someone to heal him...' _

The mid afternoon sun sensually streamed in through the gaps in the shades. This time she saw his nude torso in the sun's golden light, not the silver light of the moon. Objects tend to look different under different lighting and now her analytical brain took over and she started to study his body again, noticing how much harsher and more painful his scars looked now that they were under the sun's hard glare rather the moon's soft rays. It had been over a month since she left and she noticed new scars. The observation saddened her; how regrettable to have such a beautiful, strong body, marred so badly. And for what? Another futile mission? Then she felt doubly guilty that she was the cause of the most recent injuries.

He noticed from his exploration of her body, that she had gained some weight, put on some more muscle, and filled out nicely. Her pale skin had acquired a healthier pink hue; now her complexion was better than his (his remained almost unnaturally pale). He deduced that after her visit to her birth country, finding out about the origin of her green chakra, and exorcising the demon in her dreams, she was sleeping better, resulting in better health... and a sexier body.

Her hands played randomly with his hair, which still felt damp, twirling it, pulling it, petting it, as his head moved further down. She could feel the cool evaporation from the trail of wet kisses on her skin. The tingling sensation excited her and she realized just how much she missed him.

His mouth lingered around her breasts, kissing around the aureoles and licking their center. This time she was the one who started to feel impatient, wondering how long it would take him to travel further down, where she felt the wet warmth building.

As he licked the area around her navel, his hands finally moved down to her pants. Realizing his intention, she ordered him to take them off properly, not cutting them to pieces. She could use one of his shirts when she left, but not his pants, she reasoned.

He sighed at the delay in satisfaction but moved to obey her as he sat up and properly undid her belt. To help him reduce the time aspect, she shimmied off her pants and then helped him remove his.

This time, as his body merged with hers, there was no longer that sense of urgency, that this would be the one and only chance he had with her, that she would leave him soon afterwards. There were no lies between them now, no hidden secrets. Or so he thought.

_'This feeling of completeness, of satiety when he is within me, is that love?' _she wondered. Although her body instinctively arched in response to his thrusts, her attention was still focused on what she was or should be feeling and how she should be responding. She moaned appropriately and clutched his buttocks to encourage him and when the telltale shudder ran through his body, she responded in kind.

"I missed you," he whispered afterwards in her ear as he caressed her long dark hair carelessly spread out on the pillow. He chose these three innocuous words rather than the more meaningful trio, knowing these were more likely to get a reciprocal response.

But instead she said cynically, "Yeah right, you just missed the sex." And though she laughed as she said it, it seemed she did believe it, at least in part, or why else would the thought have entered her mind. Her words hurt a bit as he had romantically imagined her professing her undying love like most of the other women in his life.

He chuckled half-heartedly and replied, "Well, yeah, there is that of course…"

She then noticed the blood on the sheets. "What's that? Blood? Is that…? That's disgusting! When's the last time you changed your sheets?"

Kakashi shrugged sheepishly.

Freaked out by the thought of just having lain on bloody, dirty sheets, Rikako got up abruptly and started looking for her clothes, or their remnants.

"I thought maybe you could spend the night. I promise I'll change the sheets," her lover offered. He wanted very badly for her to stay, to wake up with her by his side, to feel her warm body next to his.

"No, I have to see my parents tonight and the Hokage in the morning." She frowned at the thought.

Kakashi sighed, "Well, I guess I should meet my genin now. I'm a bit late."

"You had an appointment? How late are you?" Her voice rose in disapproval.

He shrugged again before answering, "Just a couple of hours."

"A couple of...You mean you wasted time sleeping with me instead of meeting with your team? How irresponsible! Wait…was that why you were always late back then?" Rikako accused her former sensei.

"Well…er…only a few times, ha-ha," the perpetually late shinobi admitted. _'It wasn't a waste of time! Seemed she enjoyed it just as much.' _

She shook her head at his laxity and seriously wondered why she still wanted him.

"But remember, I'm late because you attacked me and knocked me out," Kakashi pointed out, purposely making her feel guilty again. She was nicer when she felt guilty.

"Yes, I suppose this time it was my fault, but I won't have you being late ever again because of me. One of us has to be responsible."

' "_Us" that's a nice word isn't it?'_ he thought with a smile.

Ultimately he needed someone to love and she needed someone to love her.

-...-...-END-...-...-

_Author's Notes: I'll be posting "Kakashi's Stolen Sharingan" as a separate story although it picks up soon after this one since the rewrite turned out much longer than I thought._


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